Gas turbine transitioning between different fuel types.

Unlock Sustainable Power: How Fuel Flexibility is Revolutionizing Gas Turbines

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Rhea Morgan in Climate & Environment November 2026 • 4 min read.

"Explore the future of energy with advanced gas turbine technology and its vital role in securing a diversified and eco-friendly fuel landscape."


In today's rapidly evolving energy market, the demand for flexible and sustainable power solutions has never been greater. Gas turbines, traditionally reliant on natural gas, are now undergoing a significant transformation to accommodate a wider range of fuels. This shift is driven by the need to reduce emissions, enhance operational efficiency, and ensure a reliable energy supply amidst fluctuating fuel availability and costs.

The ability to utilize various fuels – from natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to biodiesel and light crude oil – provides a strategic advantage for energy providers. This adaptability ensures consistent power generation, reduces reliance on single fuel sources, and enables the use of cleaner or more economically viable alternatives.

Recent advancements in gas turbine technology, particularly in combustion systems, are making this fuel flexibility a reality. Innovations like the Advanced Environmental (AEV) burner are enabling turbines to operate efficiently and safely with diverse fuel compositions, opening new possibilities for sustainable energy production.

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Fuel Flexibility and Market Growth

Gas turbines have expanded beyond their historical fuels of natural gas and light distillate to include a wide range of alternative gases and liquids, a flexibility that the review identifies as valuable amid volatile and uncertain fuel markets. The fuel-flexibility upgrades market was valued at $4.2 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $7.8 billion by 2033, with an 8.5% CAGR. A separate 2026 industry dataset reports that gas turbines generate a quarter of the world's electricity from gas-fired plants.

Why Fuel Flexibility Matters: A Greener and More Reliable Energy Future

Gas turbine transitioning between different fuel types.

Fuel flexibility in gas turbines offers a multitude of benefits that address key challenges in the energy sector:

Environmental Responsibility: By accommodating alternative fuels like biodiesel and gases with high hydrogen content, gas turbines can significantly reduce their carbon footprint and minimize emissions of harmful pollutants. This aligns with global efforts to combat climate change and improve air quality.

  • Economic Viability: Fuel flexibility allows energy providers to take advantage of the most cost-effective fuel sources available, reducing operational expenses and enhancing profitability.
  • Energy Security: Diversifying the fuel mix reduces dependence on any single fuel source, mitigating the risk of supply disruptions and price volatility.
  • Operational Reliability: Turbines that can seamlessly switch between fuels ensure a consistent power supply, even when primary fuel sources are unavailable or uneconomical.
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Research on Fuel Switching and Hydrogen

A 2024 review describes the modified Wobbe index (MWI)—the ratio of a fuel gas’s volumetric lower heating value to the square root of its density relative to air—as a parameter for assessing fuel interchangeability in premixed combustion chambers. A separate demonstration reports that a humid combustion system switched at full load between pure hydrogen and pure natural gas in both directions while maintaining stable performance and low NOx emissions at otherwise constant operating parameters. Research also includes a 2024 study of a medium-size gas turbine fueled by hydrogen-based fuels derived from biowaste as possible alternatives to natural gas.

Combustion Performance Comparisons

A study comparing steam-injected combustion with a liquid-fuel combustor reports reductions of 7.8% in flame temperature, 4.8% in average combustor-wall temperature, and 75.3% in NO emissions. A separate prototype low-NOx industrial baffle-burner study compared its results with a standard Bloom 1201-100 FTR hot-air burner used as the baseline. The available descriptions do not provide comparable performance figures for that prototype.

These benefits are particularly crucial in regions where natural gas is scarce or expensive, making alternative fuels a vital component of the energy mix. By embracing fuel flexibility, energy providers can create a more sustainable, resilient, and cost-effective energy future.

Embracing the Future of Fuel-Flexible Energy

The journey towards greater fuel flexibility in gas turbines is an ongoing process, with continuous research and development efforts focused on optimizing combustion systems, reducing emissions, and expanding the range of usable fuels. As technology advances and new fuel sources become available, fuel-flexible gas turbines will play an increasingly important role in shaping a sustainable and reliable energy future for all.

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A Growing Upgrade Market

The latest research cited by Growth Market Reports puts the global fuel-flexibility upgrades for gas turbines market at USD 1.84 billion in 2024. The report attributes the sector’s expansion to increasing demand for adaptable and efficient power-generation solutions. This figure is the source’s reported 2024 market size; the provided material does not include a future market projection.

Efficiency and Emissions in Power Generation

The cited paper reports that gas-turbine generator sets can achieve high efficiencies across a wide range of power outputs in open-cycle, combined-cycle, and cogeneration configurations. It also states that when natural gas—the fossil fuel with the lowest carbon content—is the primary fuel, these systems produce among the lowest CO2 emissions per kilowatt-hour generated. The paper says power generation can be decarbonized further, but the supplied excerpt does not specify how.

About this Article -

Written with AI assistance from published research, and reviewed by the Mystum team. See our About page for more information.

This article is based on research published under:

DOI-LINK: 10.1115/gt2018-76374, Alternate LINK

Title: Extended Range Of Fuel Capability For Gt13E2 Aev Burner With Liquid And Gaseous Fuels

Journal: Volume 4B: Combustion, Fuels, and Emissions

Publisher: American Society of Mechanical Engineers

Authors: Martin Zajadatz, Felix Güthe, Ewald Freitag, Theodoros Ferreira-Providakis, Torsten Wind, Fulvio Magni, Jeffrey Goldmeer

Published: 2018-06-11

Everything You Need To Know

1

What does fuel flexibility mean in the context of gas turbines, and how is it achieved?

Fuel flexibility in gas turbines refers to the ability of these turbines to operate using a variety of fuels, including natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), biodiesel, and light crude oil. This adaptability is achieved through advancements in combustion systems, such as the Advanced Environmental (AEV) burner, which allows for efficient and safe operation with different fuel compositions. Fuel flexibility enhances energy security by reducing reliance on a single fuel source and enables the use of more economically viable or cleaner alternatives.

2

What are the primary advantages of using fuel-flexible gas turbines?

Fuel flexibility in gas turbines offers several benefits, including environmental responsibility by reducing carbon footprint and emissions through the use of alternative fuels like biodiesel and gases with high hydrogen content. It also provides economic viability by allowing energy providers to utilize the most cost-effective fuel sources. Furthermore, it enhances energy security by diversifying the fuel mix and ensures operational reliability by enabling seamless switching between fuels, ensuring a consistent power supply even when primary fuel sources are unavailable or uneconomical.

3

What is the role of the Advanced Environmental (AEV) burner in fuel-flexible gas turbine technology?

The Advanced Environmental (AEV) burner is a key innovation in gas turbine technology that enables turbines to operate efficiently and safely with diverse fuel compositions. This burner technology allows for the combustion of various fuels, contributing to fuel flexibility. The AEV burner plays a crucial role in promoting sustainable energy production by accommodating alternative fuels and reducing emissions.

4

How does fuel flexibility in gas turbines contribute to a more sustainable energy landscape?

Fuel flexibility contributes to a more sustainable energy landscape by enabling the use of alternative fuels like biodiesel and gases with high hydrogen content, which reduces the carbon footprint and minimizes emissions of harmful pollutants. By diversifying the fuel mix, it promotes a greener and more reliable energy future, aligning with global efforts to combat climate change and improve air quality. Continuous research and development efforts are focused on optimizing combustion systems and expanding the range of usable fuels, further enhancing sustainability.

5

What does the future hold for fuel-flexible gas turbines, and what challenges need to be addressed?

The transition to fuel-flexible gas turbines involves continuous research and development focused on optimizing combustion systems, reducing emissions, and expanding the range of usable fuels. As technology advances and new fuel sources become available, fuel-flexible gas turbines will play an increasingly important role in shaping a sustainable and reliable energy future. However, challenges remain in fully optimizing the combustion process for all fuel types and ensuring long-term reliability and durability of turbine components when using diverse fuels.

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