Biofuels and Synfuels Topic

DOE’s BETO releases notice of intent to scale-up biofuel and bioproduct refineries; focus on trucking, aviation, marine industries

Click to expand...

The US Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) has published a notice of intent (DE-FOA-0002637) to issue a second “Scale-Up” Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) (DE-FOA-0002638). This FOA, funded by the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), will aim to accelerate the scale-up of biofuel and bioproduct biorefineries.

This includes efforts for pre-pilot, pilot and demonstration scale projects and will allow for both projects that are in the planning phase as well as those that already have a design package and are ready to construct, including previously funded awards that were selected under previous FOAs for design work.

Earlier this year, BETO solicited applications for the first Scale-Up FOA which was targeted towards applicants who still needed to assemble design packages. Eleven projects were selected for awards in the Scale-Up topic areas of that FOA, totaling more than $33 million. (Earlier post.)

The new, upcoming FOA will cover two BETO Programs: Advanced Algal Systems and Systems Development and Integration. All topic areas support ETO’s Program Goal to achieve $2.50/gasoline gallon equivalent (GGE) Minimum Fuel Selling Price (MSFP) and at least a 70% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (vs. petroleum baseline) by 2030.

Click to expand...

GRA said:

to accelerate the scale-up of biofuel and bioproduct biorefineries.

Click to expand...

WetEV said:

GRA said:

to accelerate the scale-up of biofuel and bioproduct biorefineries.

Click to expand...

Potential total biofuels is a tiny fraction of world energy use.

Biofuels are mostly waste products from food production, or other biological product production (such as wood), or food. The first is limited in size (there is only so much used fryer oil). The second requires the trade off between feeding people and fueling jets for the wealthy.

Click to expand...

JGC & Cosmo Oil to use Honeywell Ecofining technology in first commercial-scale SAF project in Japan

Click to expand...

JGC Holdings Corporation and Cosmo Oil Company will use Honeywell Ecofining technology (earlier post) for the first commercial-scale sustainable aviation fuel project in Japan. The project will convert used cooking oil locally collected in Japan into renewable jet fuel meeting ASTM D7566 standards with start-up scheduled in 2025.

Honeywell’s UOP Ecofining process has been used to produce SAF commercially since 2016. The Ecofining process is a capital-efficient solution suited for producing renewable jet fuel from sustainable feedstocks. For example, renewable jet fuel produced from the Ecofining process using used cooking oil as feed can deliver 60%-80% lifecycle reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared with aviation fuel from petroleum.

Honeywell Green Jet Fuel produced by the Ecofining process is blended seamlessly with petroleum-based jet fuel at commercial scale. When used in up to a 50% blend with petroleum-based jet fuel, Honeywell Green Jet Fuel requires no changes to aircraft technology and meets all critical specifications for flight.

The UOP Ecofining process, developed in conjunction with Eni SpA, converts non-edible natural oils, animal fats and other waste feedstocks to Honeywell Green Diesel and Honeywell Green Jet Fuel, which is chemically identical to petroleum-based counterparts. . .

UOP currently has licensed 24 Ecofining units in eleven countries around the world, processing 12 different types of renewable feedstocks.

Click to expand...

Energy Vault to provide 1.6 GWh of gravity energy storage to support DG Fuels SAF projects

Click to expand...

Energy Vault, a company developing grid-scale gravity energy storage solutions, has entered into an energy storage system agreement with DG Fuels, a developer of renewable hydrogen and biogenic-based, synthetic sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and diesel fuel.

Under the terms of the agreement, Energy Vault agreed to provide 1.6 gigawatt hours (GWh) of gravity energy storage to support DG Fuels across multiple projects, with the first project slated for 500 megawatt hours (MWh) in Louisiana. DG Fuels expects to complete its Louisiana SAF project by mid-2022. This initial project will be followed by additional projects in British Columbia and Ohio.

Energy Vault’s advanced gravity energy storage solutions are based on the proven physics and mechanical engineering fundamentals of pumped hydroelectric energy storage, but replace water with custom-made composite blocks, or “mobile masses”, which do not lose storage capacity over time. The system uses proprietary technology to autonomously orchestrate the lifting and lowering of the bricks, storing the potential energy in the elevation gain, and generating then discharging electricity as the bricks are lowered.

The composite blocks can be made from low-cost and locally sourced materials, including the excavated soil at the construction site, but can also utilize waste materials such as mine tailings, coal combustion residuals (coal ash), and fiberglass from decommissioned wind turbine blades.

Additionally, the Energy Vault systems are intended to minimize environmental and supply chain risks, which was a critical factor in the final selection by DG Fuels. The systems are automated with advanced computer control and machine vision software that orchestrate the charging and discharging cycles while meeting a broad set of storage durations starting from 2 hours and continuing to 12 hours, or more.

DG Fuels (DGF) aims to develop several facilities in North America and Europe, designed to produce low-carbon sustainable aviation fuel by combining carbon from waste feedstock with green hydrogen from renewable sources. The Louisiana facility is the company’s first major project. Each facility will produce low-emissions fuel in a process that converts agricultural and timber waste feedstock into fuel with a carbon efficiency of approximately 93% or more—meaning that the project can produce more fuel with less feedstock than other processes.

DGF’s fuel production system better utilizes biomass feedstock over conventional biomass-to-liquids projects because of DGF’s use of waste CO2 to make additional fuel. Depending on feedstock carbon content, DGF produces up to 3.6 barrels of biogenic blending component per ton of biomass feedstock compared to most other competitors who achieve about 1.1>1.3 barrel per ton of feedstock.

The basis of DGF’s integrated fuel and energy technology is the proven Fischer-Tropsch process, in use for more than 60 years. Existing plants around the world produce more than 170,000 BBL per day of synthetic fuel using Fischer-Tropsch. These facilities typically use approximately one ton of coal to produce one BBL of hydrocarbons, with a life cycle CO2-emissions calculation that is slightly worse than equivalent fuels derived from conventional oil refining.

DGF’s method modifies the established Fischer-Tropsch system with several mechanisms that will decrease the CO2-life-cycle emissions and reduce the quantity of feed-stock required. These changes eliminate the need for carbon sequestration and reduce the system’s feed-stock handling costs and complexity.

Additionally, DGF’s production method produces ASTM-certified direct replacement fuel with greater fuel density, lower particulate and NOx emissions. The feed-stock reduction is achieved primarily by supplementing the process with oxygen and hydrogen produced by water electrolysis units that are powered by clean wind and solar generated electricity. DGF replaces the coal gasification used by others with biomass gasification and natural gas reforming. This simplifies implementation and further reduces new carbon emissions created in the process.

DG Fuels will deploy Energy Vault’s gravity storage systems to provide green electricity in conjunction with photovoltaic solar to firm and shape the renewable energy to match the demand load of the green hydrogen production. The renewable power will be used to power HydrogenPro water electrolysis for both hydrogen and oxygen feedstock production.

Energy Vault expects the agreement with DGF to provide up to $520 million in revenue across the three projects, the first of which expected to commence in mid-2022.

Click to expand...

GRA said:

WetEV said:

Potential total biofuels is a tiny fraction of world energy use.

Biofuels are mostly waste products from food production, or other biological product production (such as wood), or food. The first is limited in size (there is only so much used fryer oil). The second requires the trade off between feeding people and fueling jets for the wealthy.

Click to expand...

Which is why I highlighted "Advanced Algal Systems", as the ability to grow algae in the ocean (or in tanks) eliminates or minimizes the food/land area constraints of other biofuels. Still a long way to go and there are numerous practical problems that may prove insoluble, but
IMO only algae, probably genetically modified, would make biofuel use beyond long-range aviation possible.

Click to expand...

Petron Scientech and SBI Bioenergy partner on cellulosic ethanol to green hydrogen and low-carbon biofuels

Click to expand...

https://www.greencarcongress.com/2021/11/20211101-psisbi.html

. . . Under this agreement, the alliance will use Petron’s proprietary cellulosic ethanol (G2.0E) technology with a variety of locally available agriculture/forestry residuals (wastes) and woody biomass, integrated with production of green hydrogen using SBI’s proprietary, Gölu-H2 technology for commercial production of low-carbon, high-purity-hydrogen.

The alliance will also use Petron’s process engineering and scale-up expertise with SBI’s technologies for waste-free production of low-carbon Fatty Acid Ethyl Ester (FAEE) and hydrogen-free production of carbon-negative renewable diesel. FAEE has lower carbon intensity, better solubility in petroleum diesel and more favorable cold flow properties compared to conventional Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) which requires the use of fossil fuel derived methanol with its high carbon intensity.

PSI’s cellulosic ethanol technology was originally developed in the US by DuPont in cooperation with the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL). PSI has all associated intellectual property and patents to produce G2.0E, including process design and the proprietary Zymomonas ethanologens for efficient conversion of C5/C6 sugars made from cellulosic biomass to G2.0E.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

WetEV said:

GRA said:

WetEV said:

Potential total biofuels is a tiny fraction of world energy use.

Biofuels are mostly waste products from food production, or other biological product production (such as wood), or food. The first is limited in size (there is only so much used fryer oil). The second requires the trade off between feeding people and fueling jets for the wealthy.

Click to expand...

Which is why I highlighted "Advanced Algal Systems", as the ability to grow algae in the ocean (or in tanks) eliminates or minimizes the food/land area constraints of other biofuels. Still a long way to go and there are numerous practical problems that may prove insoluble, but
IMO only algae, probably genetically modified, would make biofuel use beyond long-range aviation possible.

Click to expand...

Science fiction.

Even if algae biofuels are, in some sense practical, they wouldn't grow in the open ocean. Too tasty. Too little minerals.

Bioengineered not to be eaten? Beyond scary.

Ah, then so in biologically isolated tanks. Seems likely that solar to electric to liquid fuels would be far cheaper. An order of magnitude more efficient and more robust.

Click to expand...

GRA said:

After all, you're letting nature do most of the conversion.

Click to expand...

WetEV said:

GRA said:

After all, you're letting nature do most of the conversion.

Click to expand...

After all, you need to carefully isolate the algae to prevent other life from feeding on it. Hardly "natural", and often a pain.

Photosynthesis isn't anywhere close to as efficient as solar cells, and solar cells don't require biological isolation or water supplies.

Click to expand...

CN and Progress Rail partner with REG to test renewable fuel blends

Click to expand...

Canadian National Railway Company (CN) and Progress Rail, A Caterpillar Company are partnering with Renewable Energy Group (REG) to test high-level renewable fuel blends including both biodiesel and renewable diesel in support of the companies’ sustainability goals. Trials and qualifications of up to 100% bio-based diesel fuel are important steps in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from CN’s existing locomotive fleet, while alternative propulsion locomotive technologies are being developed.

This program will allow CN and Progress Rail to understand the long-term durability and operational impacts of renewable fuels on locomotives better, especially in cold weather and to plan needed modifications to leverage fully their usage over the next decade.

Rail has the potential to reduce the environmental impact of transportation services, as shipping heavy freight by rail can reduce carbon emissions by up to 75% when compared to trucks. . . .

Click to expand...

RaboResearch: EU biofuel demand to halve by 2050

Click to expand...

The decarbonization of EU road transportation will increasingly impact the demand for fossil and biofuel, especially after 2030. The long-term outlook for biofuels, beyond 2045, does not look promising, as the expected decline in demand is likely to encourage biofuel companies to look for alternative uses for their products, according to a new research report from Rabobank.

The path toward decarbonization in road transportation in the EU will require a multifaceted approach that, besides traditional biofuels, also includes the use of renewable electricity, green hydrogen, and other advanced biofuels. This, along with regulations banning the sale of internal combustion engine cars by 2035, will slowly replace the vehicle fleet and negatively impact the demand for fossil fuel and biofuel as early as 2025, with a bigger impact after 2030, the report says. . . .

Decarbonization of car fleet to impact biodiesel and bioethanol demand. The pathway to decarbonization in the EU is geared toward the electrification of the car fleet, and the use of renewable or green hydrogen in heavy and commercial vehicles. Renewable sources of energy in transport contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and fossil-fuel dependence.

Electrification and hydrogen adoption in road transport will have a negative impact on the demand for fossil and biofuels, especially after 2030. In the short-term until 2025, given the higher replacement rate of diesel vehicles, Rabobank forecasts that diesel and biodiesel demand will decline at the same rate of almost 4% from 2020 levels.

On the other hand, gasoline and bioethanol demand is expected to grow by 5% until 2025, as the replacement rate of gasoline motor vehicles will take longer to have an impact.

A steeper decline will show in the years that follow, as new technologies start to replace the old vehicle fleet. . . .

The declining demand for biodiesel will not translate to the same extent into a declining demand for its feedstocks. The phasing out of palm oil in EU biofuel production through 2030 is likely to spur a competition between rapeseed oil and used cooking oil to fill the gap. The growth in ethanol demand until 2025 should benefit most ethanol players and their feedstocks. Its decline thereafter would impact feedstocks at a similar rate except for cellulosic ethanol, which should be incentivized to grow as it is considered advanced biofuel.

The future for traditional biofuels is discouraging. The long-term outlook, beyond 2045, does not look good. By then, most of the EU vehicle fleet will already have been replaced with electric and hydrogen vehicles. The expected decline in biofuels demand is likely to encourage biofuel companies to look for alternative uses for their products.

According to Afonso, unless policies change to allow these biofuels to be used directly as fuel, it is unlikely that there will be additional investments to expand capacity of conventional biofuels even with the positive short-term outlook, and considering that there is existing idle capacity available. . . .

Click to expand...

Gevo and Sweetwater Energy sign MoU for lignocellulosic feedstocks to produce cellulosic alcohols and sustainable aviation fuel

Click to expand...

Gevo signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Sweetwater Energy, Inc., regarding the use of sustainably sourced agricultural residues and woody biomass as a feedstock for producing cellulosic alcohols and energy-dense renewable liquid hydrocarbons.

As outlined in the MoU, Sweetwater plans to build, own and operate a facility adjacent to Gevo’s existing plant in Luverne, Minnesota to produce high-value, plant-based products from cellulose and lignin while supplying Gevo with up to 30,000 tons of biomass-derived cellulosic sugars annually, with opportunities for expansion. . . .

Gevo was the first company to demonstrate conversion of cellulosic sugars to make sustainable aviation fuel meeting the ASTM D7566 specification allowing it to be used for commercial flights. The company expects it can be commercialized effectively when cost-effective sources of these sugars meet sustainability goals. . . .

Since Sweetwater’s Sunburst technology is designed with the flexibility to pretreat many types of biomass and has been proven in operation at commercial scale at the Sweetwoods Project in Imavere, Estonia, Sweetwater plans to increase the types of feedstock used in the Luverne plant to include qualified wood products and agricultural residues. Construction of the Sweetwater facility adjacent to the Luverne facility is anticipated to begin in Q3 2022.

Click to expand...

Viridos executes agreement with ExxonMobil to help scale algae biofuels toward commercial levels

Click to expand...

. . . Founded in 2005 by leaders in synthetic biology, Viridos quickly established itself as a powerhouse for innovative research, transplanting the first genome, synthesizing the first bacterial genome and creating the first synthetic cell. In the past few years Viridos’ leadership in engineering microalgae has achieved greater than 5x bio-oil productivity increases by increasing both the oil content in the algae and the algae yield. The results from outdoor deployment of Viridos’ bio-engineered strains in 2020 and 2021 mark the inflection point toward deployment. . . .

In addition to their use in heavy transport, the algae biofuels could be used for aviation, commercial trucking, and maritime shipping. The terms of the renewed partnership with ExxonMobil should enable other interested parties to access and advance the technology to accelerate the deployment of Viridos’ patented technology in pursuit of lowering global GHG emissions, the company said. . . .

In 2017, ExxonMobil and Viridos announced breakthrough research published in Nature Biotechnology that resulted in a modified algae strain that more than doubled oil content without significantly inhibiting growth, a key challenge along the path to commercial scalability.

Again with the support of ExxonMobil, Viridos developed the California Advanced Algal Facility (CAAF) in the Imperial Desert in 2018 as the initial pilot facility to test and farm optimal algae strains to move toward commercialization.

Click to expand...

Aemetis, American Airlines sign $1.1B 280M gallon offtake agreement for sustainable aviation fuel blend

Click to expand...

Aemetis, Inc., a renewable fuels company focused on negative carbon intensity products, has an offtake agreement with American Airlines for 280 million gallons of blended fuel containing sustainable aviation fuel (“SAF”) to be delivered over the 7-year term of the agreement. The aggregate value of the agreement is estimated to be more than $1.1 billion, including LCFS, RFS, 45Q and tax credits.

Sustainable aviation fuel provides significant environmental benefits compared to petroleum jet fuel, including a lower lifecycle carbon footprint. The blended Sustainable Aviation Fuel to be delivered under this agreement is 40% SAF and 60% Petroleum Jet A to meet international blending standards.

American’s agreement with Aemetis builds on the airline’s efforts to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The airline has also committed to set a science-based target for the year 2035 and has aligned with the aviation industry goal of replacing 10% of conventional jet fuel with sustainable aviation fuel by 2030.

The sustainable aviation fuel is expected to be produced by the Aemetis renewable jet/diesel plant under development on a 125-acre former US Army Ammunition production plant site in Riverbank, California. (Earlier post.) The blended sustainable aviation fuel is expected to be available for use by American starting in 2024.

Powered by 100% renewable electricity, the Aemetis Carbon Zero plant design utilizes cellulosic hydrogen made from carbon negative waste wood. The below zero carbon intensity, cellulosic hydrogen then is used to hydrotreat vegetable or other renewable oils to produce aviation and diesel fuel. The process technology is licensed from Axens (France), a global technology provider to the oil and chemical industries.

To further reduce carbon intensity, the Aemetis Carbon Zero production process includes injecting CO2 from the production plant into a sequestration well at the Riverbank plant site to permanently capture an estimated 200,000 metric tonnes per year of CO2.

MoU with oneworld Alliance for 350M gallons of SAF. Aemetis also recently signed memoranda of understanding with 8 airline members of the oneworld Alliance for 350 million gallons of blended fuel containing SAF to be delivered to San Francisco International Airport.

Once finalized, the agreements will cover the delivery of sustainable aviation fuel over a seven-year term beginning in 2024. oneworld members including Alaska Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines and Qatar Airways will look to utilize the sustainable aviation fuel for their operations at San Francisco Airport, with the potential for additional oneworld members to participate in the coming months. American Airlines is also a oneworld Alliance member.

Click to expand...

British Airways, Phillips 66 sign sustainable aviation fuel supply agreement

Click to expand...

British Airways and Phillips 66 Limited have entered into a multi-year supply agreement for sustainable aviation fuel produced at the Phillips 66 Humber Refinery, making the airline the first in the world to use SAF produced in the UK.

SAF can reduce lifecycle carbon emissions by over 80% compared to the traditional jet fuel it replaces.

The SAF will be supplied to British Airways to power a number of its flights from early 2022. It will be produced from sustainable waste feedstock at the Humber Refinery, which will deliver its SAF supply to British Airways via existing pipeline infrastructure that feeds directly into UK airports.

Humber Refinery General Manager Darren Cunningham, the Lead Executive for Phillips 66 in the UK, said the announcement reflects the importance the aviation and energy industries are placing on sustainability and the continued development, adoption and scaling up of sustainable aviation fuel. . . .

The British Airways agreement follows the announcement in April of a memorandum of understanding between Phillips 66 and Southwest Airlines to advance SAF.

British Airways, which is driving to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, will purchase enough sustainable fuel to reduce lifecycle CO2 emissions by almost 100,000 tons, the equivalent of powering 700 net-zero CO2 emissions flights between London and New York on its fuel-efficient Boeing 787 aircraft.

The airline’s parent company, International Airlines Group (IAG), is investing $400 million over the next 20 years into the development of SAF; British Airways has existing partnerships with a number of technology and fuel companies to develop SAF plants and purchase the fuel. . . .

Click to expand...

United operates first passenger flight using 100% SAF

Click to expand...

. . . United is the leading airline in the usage and support for the development of SAF, already having agreements to purchase nearly twice as much SAF as the known agreements of all other global airlines combined. SAF has the potential to deliver the performance of petroleum-based jet fuel but with a fraction of its carbon footprint, and according to the US Department of Energy, the country’s feedstock resources are enough to meet the projected fuel demand of the entire US aviation industry.

The demonstration flight, which departed with more than 100 passengers from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport to Washington, D.C.’s Reagan National Airport, was on a new United 737 MAX 8. The aircraft used 500 gallons of SAF in one engine and the same amount of conventional jet fuel in the other engine to further prove there are no operational differences between the two and to set the stage for more scalable uses of SAF by all airlines in the future.

Currently, airlines are only permitted to use a maximum of 50% SAF on board. The SAF used on the demonstration flight is drop-in ready and compatible with existing aircraft fleets.

Eco-Skies Alliance. United launched the Eco-Skies Alliance program in April 2021; the Alliance has collectively contributed toward the purchase of more than 7 million gallons of SAF this year alone. With its nearly 80% greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions on a lifecycle basis compared to conventional jet fuel, this is enough SAF to eliminate approximately 66,000 metric tons of GHG emissions, or enough to fly passengers more than 460 million miles. Including today’s newly announced participants, the program has nearly 30 participants including companies such as DHL Global Forwarding, HP Inc. and Nike. . . .

Click to expand...

Cummins high horsepower diesel generator sets now approved for use with hydrotreated vegetable oil fuel

Click to expand...

Cummins Inc. announced approval of its entire line of diesel generator sets for use with paraffinic fuels (EN15940), including hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), when used in standby applications. . . .

HVO is derived from the same feedstocks used to produce biodiesel, however, it is produced via a hydrotreated process vs. transesterification process, which helps improve its oxidation stability. It has a very low life cycle carbon emission, making it attractive as a sustainable fuel.

Constituent emissions are equivalent to or lower than they are with diesel, and existing emissions data sheets and EPA Tier 2 certifications apply while operating generator sets on HVO.

Additionally, it is not prone to bacterial growth making it suitable for applications that require extended fuel storage, including back-up power standby applications. HVO is also compatible and can be blended in any proportion with diesel, easing the transition at existing facilities with diesel back-up power generators. . . .

Click to expand...

T&E: tests show cars powered by electrofuels emit high levels of criteria pollutants

Click to expand...

-fuels are made by combining green hydrogen with CO2 to produce liquid fuel that can be similar to gasoline or diesel used in conventional engines (as well as kerosene used in aviation). Proponents claim that if renewable electricity is used and CO2 is captured from the air, then the e-gasoline and e-diesel are climate-neutral fuels that will also reduce pollution.

The European NGO Transport & Environment commissioned IFP Energies Nouvelles to run a series of lab-based tests simulating real-world driving (WLTC and RDE) to measure the emissions of different electrofuel blends in an A-class (A180) Mercedes.

Due to the lack of commercially available e-fuels, IFPEN had to blend three e-fuel blends itself representative of potential future fuel that are compatible with gasoline cars. The three blends were:

100% paraffinic e-fuel. A blend with 100% hydrocarbon chains and no ring-shaped hydrocarbon with delocalized electrons such as benzene (i.e. aromatics). Future e-fuels are likely to be mostly paraffinic blends as these aree the chemicals produced during the Ficher-Tropsch process, T&E said.

90% paraffinic, 10% aromatic. Aromatics may be added to e-fuels to improve combustion properties.

90% paraffinic, 10% second-generation ethanol. Fuel manufacturers may consider future use of e-fuel and second-generation ethanol blends to reduce the fuel cost and increase total volume of renewable fuel available in the market, T&E suggested. A 10% blend was chosen due to existing fleet and EN228 standard compatibility. Adding ethanol to the paraffinic e-fuel blend did not work due to miscibility issues. The ethanol and e-fuel would separate out similarly to oil and water. This could not be solved with addition of up to 20% aromatics into the blend. Finally, 1% fusel oil had to be added to the blend for the ethanol not to separate out.

The emissions were compared to the standard E10 EU gasoline.

The pollutant emissions testing found:

No difference in NOx emissions were observed for any of the e-fuels tested either on the lab or on road tests compared to today’s gasoline fuel. This means that e-fuels emit the same amount of NOx pollution as fossil fuels today, so the use of e-gasoline in cars will have little impact on NOx emissions which are at the heart of NO2 pollution across Europe’s cities.

A substantial decrease in particle emissions was observed on all tests. The number of particle emissions (PN) larger than 10 nm decreased by 97% on the lab test, and by 81-86% on the RDE test cycle. This was a significant improvement compared to the fossil fuel tested and is many times below the legal limit. However, said T&E, particle pollution was far from eliminated. Even with the use of 100% e-gasoline blends, at least 2.2 billion particles were still released for every kilometer driven. There was no difference observed in particle mass (PM) emissions.

Carbon monoxide emissions were much higher with the e-gasoline blends tested. Emissions were up to almost 3 times higher on the lab WLTC test and 1.2-1.5 times higher on the RDE test compared to fossil fuel. The largest increase in emissions occurred when the engine was first switched on, which happens often in towns and cities.

Hydrocarbon emissions decreased by 23-40% on the WLTC test but no difference was observed on the RDE test due to low emissions for all fuels. Emissions of dangerous but not yet regulated aldehydes—acetaldehyde and formaldehyde—decreased with the use of e-fuels when the engine was first switched on, but no significant difference was seen on the test overall.

Ammonia emissions of two e-gasoline blends roughly doubled on the RDE test, with emissions particularly increasing after the engine is first switched on (cold start) which frequently occurs in towns and cities. These results indicate that some e-gasoline blends may cause an increase in ammonia emissions which is a precursor to PM2.5 pollution.

E-fuels have lost the race to clean up cars, but in truth it was never even close. Battery electric cars offer drivers the cleanest, most efficient and affordable way to decarbonize, while synthetic fuels are best suited to planes where electrification is not an option. The credibility of Europe’s clean car policy is on the line and any diversion into e-fuels is a new lease of life for old polluting engines.

—Julia Poliscanova, senior director for vehicles and e-mobility at T&E

Click to expand...

Neste to establish JV with Marathon Petroleum for production of renewable fuels in California

Click to expand...

. . . The joint venture will produce renewable diesel following a conversion project of Marathon’s refinery in Martinez, California (the Martinez Renewable Fuels project).

The closing of the joint venture is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, including obtaining the necessary permits, which depend upon certification of a final Environmental Impact Report.

Neste’s total investment will amount to approximately €0.9 billion (US$1.0 billion), inclusive of half of the total project development costs projected through the completion of the project.

The project is expected to increase Neste’s renewable products capacity by slightly more than 1 million tons (365 million US gallons) per annum. Production of renewable diesel is expected to come online in the second half of 2022. The facility is planned to reach its full annual nameplate capacity of 2.1 million tons (730 million US gallons) by the end of 2023. . . .

Through this joint venture Neste obtains a 50% interest in the Martinez Renewable Fuels project. The production output will be split evenly between the joint venture partners, and each partner will be responsible to market the products under its own brand and responsibility. The facility will be operated by Marathon, which has long experience as a leading refinery operator and in executing major capex projects in the US. Both Neste and Marathon will be responsible for feedstock sourcing for the joint venture. . . .

Click to expand...

bp selects Honeywell’s Ecofining technology for new diesel and sustainable aviation fuels project in Australia

Click to expand...

. . . bp plans to convert hydroprocessing equipment at its former refinery site in Kwinana, Australia, to produce approximately 10,000 barrels per day (kbd) diesel and SAF from renewable feeds, integrating with its existing terminal operations.

bp announced in October 2020 that it would cease fuel production at its Kwinana Refinery and convert it to an import terminal, helping to ensure ongoing security of fuel supply for Western Australia.

The refinery provided fuels for Western Australia for 65 years. However, the continued growth of large-scale, export-oriented refineries throughout Asia and the Middle East has structurally changed the Australian market, bp noted at the time.

Revamping to Honeywell UOP’s Ecofining process is expected to provide a fast-to-market, capital efficient solution, suited for repurposing underutilized hydroprocessing units to produce diesel and SAF from renewable feeds, which have substantially similar molecules to petroleum-based diesel and jet fuel and can be used as a drop-in replacement without engine modifications—in the case of SAF in blends of up to 50% with the remainder as conventional jet fuel. . . .

The UOP Ecofining process, developed in conjunction with Eni SpA, converts non-edible natural oils, animal fats and other waste feedstocks to diesel and SAF. Both products offer improved performance over commercial petroleum-based diesel and jet fuels. . . .

Click to expand...

Honeywell, Oriental Energy to build million-ton sustainable aviation fuel production facility in China

Click to expand...

Honeywell and Oriental Energy Company announced that a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production facility with an annual output capacity of 1 million tons will be built in Maoming, Guangdong Province in China. The new facility will help meet a growing SAF demand, facilitate greenhouse gas emission reduction in aviation fuel production through the deployment of innovative technologies and support China’s goals to reduce CO2 emissions and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.

The Oriental Energy SAF project, which is expected to be built in two phases, involves two production units that will process used cooking oils and animal fats as feedstocks. When completed, it is expected to be among the world’s largest SAF production facilities using used cooking oils and animal fats as feedstocks.

Using such feedstocks helps reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 80% compared with traditional fuels—or by 2.4 million tons each year for the completed project (per California Air Resources Board (ARB) guidelines established for the LCFS). . . .

When used in up to a 50% blend with petroleum-based jet fuel, SAF produced with UOP’s Ecofining process requires no changes to aircraft technology and meets all critical specifications for flight.

The Ecofining technology is used in many 100% bio-feed units producing diesel and jet fuels from renewable feedstocks and can be used for dedicated renewable jet fuel production. Honeywell currently has licensed 25 Ecofining units in eleven countries around the world, processing 12 different types of renewable feedstocks. In 2021, Ecofining technology supported the world’s first jet flights using SAF produced from algal oil.

According to the “14th Five-Year Plan for Civil Aviation Development” jointly issued by China’s Civil Aviation Administration, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Transport in January 2022, China will strive to build a sound eco-friendly development system for its civil aviation industry, further emphasizing the importance of technological innovation for realizing the country’s decarbonization goals. Furthermore, in the “Special Plan for Green Development of Civil Aviation during the 14th Five-Year Plan Period”, the Civil Aviation Administration stressed the importance of breakthroughs in the commercialization of SAF to reduce industrial greenhouse emissions. . . .

Click to expand...

Refuel Energy to build 3000 bpd RD, SAF plant in Southern Ontario using Topsoe technologies

Click to expand...

. . . Refuel YYZ will produce renewable diesel (RD), sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), and renewable hydrogen for the domestic market. The proposed facility would supply the aviation and terrestrial fuel needs of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), home to 6 million Canadians, while lowering the CO2 emissions for the end users by up to 80%; it is also strategically located for exporting to the US Northeast.

The plant would utilize Haldor Topsoe’s proprietary HydroFlex and H2bridge technologies for the production of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Planned feedstocks include a mix of waste fats, oils and greases , such as regionally-sourced used cooking oil, animal fats and non-edible crop oils.

Fluor Corporation is the contractor for Refuel YYZ and will be providing front end engineering and design (FEED) services, as well as detailed engineering, procurement, and construction management (EPCM) support.

Refuel expects to make a final investment decision in 2023. If approved, production at the new facility would start in 2025. . . .

Click to expand...

Aemetis to supply Qantas with 35M gallons of blended sustainable aviation fuel

Click to expand...

Aemetis, a renewable fuels company focused on negative carbon intensity products, has signed an offtake agreement with Qantas Group and Qantas Airlines for 35 million gallons of blended sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to be delivered over the 7-year term of the agreement. The value of the contract including incentives is approximately $250 million.

Sustainable aviation fuel provides significant environmental benefits compared to petroleum jet fuel, including a lower lifecycle carbon footprint and reduced contrails. The blended sustainable aviation fuel to be supplied under this agreement is 40% SAF and 60% Petroleum Jet A to meet international blending standards. . . .

The sustainable aviation fuel is expected to be produced by the Aemetis renewable jet/diesel plant under development on a 125 acre former US Army Ammunition production plant site in Riverbank, California. The blended sustainable aviation fuel is scheduled to begin deliveries to Qantas in 2025.

Powered by 100% renewable electricity, the Aemetis Carbon Zero production plant at the Riverbank plant site is designed to sequester CO2 from the production process using injection wells, significantly reducing the carbon intensity of the renewable fuel.

Click to expand...

Mitsubishi Heavy and Infinium to collaborate on the production and deployment of electrofuels in Japan

Click to expand...

. . . Infinium electrofuels are classified as ultra-low carbon fuels because they reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 97% when compared to traditional jet and diesel fuels. They are a drop-in replacement for fossil-based fuels and can be used in airplanes, trucks, and ships without the need for costly engine modifications.

By combining Infinium Electrofuels production technology with MHI Group’s CO2 capture technology and value chain solutions, MHI aims to accelerate the realization of a carbon-neutral society in Japan, alongside its existing strategies such as EV-oriented transportation, CO2 recovery and carbon offsets.

This collaboration also supports the Japanese government’s Green Growth Strategy, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 46% by 2030 (from 2013 levels) and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The use of carbon-neutral fuels is expected to play a key role in decarbonizing industries where this is typically challenging such as long-distance transportation, air transportation, and marine transportation, where electric vehicles are considered difficult to utilize at scale. . . .

Click to expand...

Sustainable aviation fuel provides significant environmental benefits compared to petroleum jet fuel, including a lower lifecycle carbon footprint and reduced contrails. The blended sustainable aviation fuel to be supplied under this agreement is 40% SAF and 60% Petroleum Jet A to meet international blending standards. .

Click to expand...