Indaba Renewable Fuels will build two greenfield refineries in California and Missouri to produce Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) utilizing Topsoe’s HydroFlex technology. The facilities are expected to begin production of SAF in 2024, with a capacity of 6,500 barrels per day at each location. Topsoe will also provide its H2bridge... Read more →

LanzaJet, a sustainable fuels technology company and renewable fuels producer, has secured financing for its Freedom Pines Fuels plant in Soperton, Georgia (earlier post), through the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund. The Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund has made a $50-million investment to support the construction of LanzaJet’s (and the world’s) first... Read more →

Vertimass and European Energy have completed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to integrate technologies for capturing carbon dioxide and converting it into hydrocarbon products around the world. This combination takes advantage of European Energy’s expertise in capturing carbon dioxide from waste sources (carbon dioxide produced from anaerobic digestion, power production,... Read more →

ExxonMobil is acquiring a 49.9% stake in Biojet AS, a Norwegian biofuels company that plans to convert forestry and wood-based construction waste into lower-emissions biofuels and biofuel components. Biojet AS plans to develop up to five facilities to produce the biofuels and biofuel components. The company anticipates commercial production to... Read more →

UGI Corporation has entered into a 15-year agreement with California-based technology developer Vertimass to utilize their catalytic technology to produce renewable fuels from renewable ethanol in the US and Europe. Vertimass is developing a unique Consolidated Alcohol Deoxygenation and Oligomerization (CADO) technology to allow ethanol producers to: Produce sustainable aviation... Read more →

Researchers from three US Department of Energy (DOE) labs—Argonne National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)—have investigated the economic and environmental implications of producing bioblendstocks for diesel fuels from two wet waste-to-fuel pathways: hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids (HEFA) from yellow grease and... Read more →

Malaysia Airlines, the national carrier of Malaysia, operated its inaugural flight using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in partnership with PETRONAS Dagangan Berhad (PDB) and Neste. The flight marks Malaysia Airlines’ commitment to make SAF the cleaner and more viable energy option for regular flights by 2025. The historic flight MH7979... Read more →

Aemetis, a renewable fuels company focused on negative carbon intensity products (earlier post), has signed a 10-year, 450-million-gallon renewable diesel supply agreement with an industry-leading travel stop company, which is expected to generate more than $3 billion in revenue. The renewable diesel to be supplied under the agreement will fuel... Read more →

SK Inc., the strategic investment arm of South Korea’s SK Group, was part of a $50-million investment in Fulcrum BioEnergy, a US-based waste-to-fuels company. SK Inc. was joined in the investment with a Korean private equity fund. Fulcrum produce biofuel on a commercial scale by chemically converting municipal solid waste... Read more →

Kolmar and Gevo have entered into a financeable fuel supply agreement for 45 million gallons per year (on a neat basis) of renewable, energy-dense liquid hydrocarbons—including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and isooctane that is a key component of renewable premium gasoline—that are expected to be produced from Gevo’s second Net-Zero... Read more →

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. This announcement comes as part of Cummins overall commitment to develop innovative solutions that enable decarbonization, and proactively advance the company’s current... Read more →

United recently operated the first commercial flight using 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). United also recently announced the second round of corporate participants in the airline’s Eco-Skies Alliance program to contribute collectivelytowards the purchase of SAF. United is the leading airline in the usage and support for the development of... Read more →

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... Read more →

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... Read more →

Initial findings from a world-first study of the impact of 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) on both engines of a commercial jet have provided promising early results, according to the participants. The ECLIF3 study (Emission and Climate Impact of Alternative Fuels) (earlier post), involving Airbus, Rolls-Royce, German research center DLR... Read more →

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... Read more →

At COP26 in Glasgow, US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced the US Aviation Climate Action Plan, published by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which sets out to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from the US aviation sector by 2050. The document focuses on technologies that could substantially reduce the... Read more →

Evolve Transition Infrastructure LP, a publicly traded limited partnership focused on the acquisition, development and ownership of infrastructure critical to the transition of energy supply to lower carbon sources, and HOBO Renewable Diesel, LLC, a renewable fuel project developer, announced an agreement for Evolve to fund the construction of HOBO’s... Read more →

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... Read more →

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... Read more →

ADM and Gevo signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to support the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and other low carbon-footprint hydrocarbon fuels. The MoU contemplates the production of both ethanol and isobutanol that would then be transformed into renewable low carbon-footprint hydrocarbons, including SAF, using Gevo’s processing technology... Read more →

Rolls-Royce, working with Boeing and World Energy, has carried out a successful test flight of its 747 Flying Testbed aircraft using 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) on a Trent 1000 engine. The aircraft flew from Tucson airport in Arizona, passing over New Mexico and Texas, with a Trent 1000 engine... Read more →

Italy-based integrated energy company Eni is launching the production of alternative sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Eni has been producing Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) biofuel in its Venice and Gela bio-refineries since 2014 via its proprietary Ecofoning technology; it can also produce sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) from waste and plant-based raw... Read more →

Gevo and Axens North America have entered into an agreement that establishes a strategic alliance aimed at accelerating the commercialization of sustainable ethanol-to-jet (ETJ) projects in the United States. As part of the alliance, Axens brings technologies with more than 60 related patents; engineering packages; proprietary catalysts; and certain proprietary... Read more →

In the Netherlands, Wageningen University & Research (WUR) and its partners have developed a new type of aviation fuel produced using bio-based waste streams from the agriculture industry. The new fuel is based on a mixture of acetone and alcohol. Although it does not yet meet all industry requirements for... Read more →

Biofuels producer Renewable Energy Group joined Iowa State University (ISU) at the BioCentury Research Farm (BCRF) to mark the start of a new hydrotreater pilot plant. This project is the result of a three-year collaboration between REG and the ISU Bioeconomy Institute. REG converts waste and byproduct fats and oils... Read more →

U-Haul—the largest US retailer of propane—has purchased one million gallons of renewable propane to sell at its company-owned and -operated stores across California for the second year in row. (Earlier post.) U-Haul teamed again with national distributor Suburban Propane Partners, L.P., to continue supplying the fuel at more than 60... Read more →

bp plans to invest $269 million investment in three projects at its Cherry Point Refinery in Washington state, aimed at improving the refinery’s efficiency, reducing its carbon dioxide emissions and increasing its renewable diesel production capability. The investment is aligned with bp’s aims to be net zero across its operations... Read more →

Aemetis, a renewable fuels company focused on negative-carbon-intensity products, signed an offtake agreement with Delta Air Lines for 250 million gallons of blended fuel containing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to be delivered over the 10-year term of the agreement. The aggregate value of the agreement is estimated to be more... Read more →

Gevo has received a patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for a process that encompasses upgrading ethanol and bio-based alcohols into drop-in, bio-based diesel and jet-fuel products. The USPTO has awarded Gevo US Patent No. 11,078,433 titled “Conversion of Mixtures of C2-C8 Olefins to Jet Fuel... Read more →

TotalEnergies and Safran signed a strategic partnership agreement to develop technical and commercial solutions jointly for the decarbonization of the aviation industry. In line with the ambition of both companies to reach net zero CO2 emissions by 2050, this major partnership aims to accelerate the reduction of the CO2 emissions... Read more →

Honeywell and Wood announced a comprehensive package of technologies to support the effort to produce carbon-neutral aviation fuel. When used together, the technologies—based on Honeywell’s UOP Ecofining process technology and Wood’s hydrogen plant technology—could reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 100% using certain feedstocks when compared to traditional petroleum... Read more →

Forest products company SCA and St1 have entered a joint venture in Sweden to produce and sell renewable HVO diesel and biojet fuel. SCA will supply tall oil to the joint venture for feedstock and will invest approximately SEK 0.6 billion (US$71.7 million) in the company. SCA and St1 will... Read more →

Royal Dutch Shell will build an 820,000-tonnes-a-year biofuels facility at the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam, the Netherlands, formerly known as the Pernis refinery. Once built, the facility will be among the largest in Europe to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel made from waste. Shell expects... Read more →

Kinder Morgan, one of North America’s largest energy infrastructure companies, is partnering with Neste, one of the leading providers of renewable and circular solutions, to create a premier domestic raw material storage and logistics hub in the United States, supporting increased production of renewable diesel, sustainable aviation fuel and renewable... Read more →

Arbor Renewable Gas, LLC (Arbor Gas) will use Topsoe’s TIGAS technology for producing renewable gasoline at a new facility in the Gulf Coast region. The facility—expected to be operational by 2024—will produce 1,000 barrels per day of renewable gasoline with a significantly negative carbon intensity score under California’s Low Carbon... Read more →

As part of a White House roundtable to launch the Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) Grand Challenge to decarbonize the aviation sector by 2050 (earlier post), the US Department of Energy (DOE) announced $64.7 million in funding for projects focused on producing cost-effective, low-carbon biofuels. These investments will advance technologies to... Read more →

The Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Transportation (DOT) and US Department of Agriculture (USDA) are launching a government-wide Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge to meet the demand for sustainable aviation fuels by working with stakeholders to reduce costs, enhance sustainability, and expand production and use of sustainable aviation fuels... Read more →

United and Honeywell announced a joint multimillion-dollar investment in Alder Fuels—a company that is developing technologies for producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at scale by converting abundant biomass, such as forest and crop waste, into sustainable low-carbon, drop-in replacement crude oil that can be used to produce aviation fuel. When... Read more →

Chevron USA, through its Chevron Products Company division, Delta Air Lines, and Google announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to track sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) test batch emissions data using cloud-based technology. Sustainable aviation fuel is produced from biofeedstocks that can reduce lifecycle carbon intensity significantly when compared to conventional... Read more →

LG Chem and Korean biodiesel producer and exporter Dansuk Industrial will form a joint venture to build Korea’s first next-generation hydro-treated vegetable oil (HVO) plant. LG Chem signed a Heads of Agreement (HOA) for the establishment of the HVO joint venture on 2 September at the Dansuk Industrial headquarters in... Read more →

Chevron USA, a subsidiary of Chevron Corporation, and Bunge North America, a subsidiary of Bunge Limited, announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) of a proposed 50/50 joint venture to help meet the demand for renewable fuels and to develop lower carbon intensity feedstocks. Upon finalization of the joint venture, Chevron... Read more →

ExxonMobil Catalysts and Licensing LLC has introduced ExxonMobil Renewable Diesel process technology (EMRD) to help meet the evolving needs for mobility, while utilizing renewable feedstock. This new process technology converts feedstocks including, but not limited to, vegetable oils, unconverted cooking oil and animal fats, into renewable diesel. One challenge when... Read more →

Imperial is moving forward with plans to construct a major renewable diesel complex at its Strathcona refinery near Edmonton, Alberta—the largest refinery in western Canada. This new complex is expected to produce more than 1 billion liters (260 million gallons US) per year of renewable diesel from locally sourced and... Read more →

Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC) and ADM announced an agreement to form a joint venture for the production of soybean oil to supply rapidly growing demand for renewable diesel fuel. Under the terms of the agreement, the joint venture will own and operate ADM’s previously announced soybean processing complex in Spiritwood,... Read more →

A patented process for converting alcohol sourced from renewable or industrial waste gases into jet or diesel fuel is being scaled up at the US Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory with the help of partners at Oregon State University and the carbon-recycling experts at LanzaTech. A single-step chemical... Read more →

A common farm weed could make a jet fuel with fewer production-related environmental impacts than other biofuels, according to a new lifecycle study by researchers at The Ohio State University. Growing the weed, pennycress—often called stinkweed—as a crop requires less fertilizer and fewer pesticides than other plants that can be... Read more →

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers have developed a new catalyst for converting ethanol into C3+ olefins—the chemical building blocks for renewable jet fuel and diesel—that pushes selectivity to a record-high 88%, a more than 10% gain over their previously developed catalyst. (Earlier post.) A paper on the new work is... Read more →

The UK Department for Transport has shortlisted 8 industry-led projects to receive a share of £15 million (US$21 million) in the Green Fuels, Green Skies (GFGS) competition for the development of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) production plants in the UK. The shortlisted proposals include plants aiming to produce jet fuel... Read more →

US production capacity for renewable diesel could increase significantly through 2024, based on announced projects and those that are under construction, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Growing targets for state and federal renewable fuel programs and incentives for renewable diesel production are driving this expansion. As of... Read more →