Honeywell International Inc. (Charlotte, N.C.) announced the new, UOP eFining technology, a ready-now solution for producing low-carbon sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). HIF Global (Houston), the world’s leading eFuels company, intends to deploy the new technology to produce eSAF at its second U.S. eFuels facility.
eFuels, also known as electrofuels, are a class of synthetic fuels that can replace conventionally produced fossil fuels. eFuels combine green hydrogen (hydrogen produced in electrolyzers from renewable energy and water) and carbon dioxide (CO2) to produce eMethanol, which can then be converted to a wide range of sustainable fuels, including eSAF, eGasoline, and eDiesel.
Honeywell’s UOP eFining is a methanol to jet fuel (MTJ) processing technology that can convert eMethanol to eSAF reliably and at scale. The technology is efficient, resulting in high-yield eSAF production at a lower cost relative to comparable technologies. Honeywell UOP eFining can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 88% compared to conventional jet fuel1. When blended with conventional jet fuel, eSAF is a drop-in replacement fuel that requires no changes to aircraft technology or fuel infrastructure.
“As a leader in renewable fuel technology, Honeywell recognizes that creating technologies that use new feedstocks is vital to long-term decarbonization of the aviation sector,” said Lucian Boldea, president and CEO of Honeywell Performance Materials and Technologies. “The ability to use readily abundant CO2 to produce SAF is a transformational opportunity for this market. Adding UOP eFining to our existing Ecofining and ethanol to jet technologies, Honeywell now offers multiple routes to market to meet the rapidly growing demand for renewable fuels including SAF.”
“United strongly supports the development of new technologies that can help bring additional quantities of SAF to market,” said United Airlines Ventures President Michael Leskinen. “Using green H2 and CO2 to produce eSAF has the potential to dramatically increase the volume of SAF required to enable the aviation industry to reach its decarbonization goals in a timelier manner. United is proud to be the first airline to use SAF in regular operations and increasing our SAF consumption is essential to meeting our commitment to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, without relying on traditional carbon offsets.”
HIF Global is the first customer to sign a commercial agreement for the production of eSAF using Honeywell UOP eFining. HIF expects to deploy the solution at its second commercial-scale eFuels facility in the U.S. The HIF eSAF project is expected to be the world’s largest eSAF facility, recycling approximately 2 million tons of captured CO2 to make approximately 11,000 barrels per day of eSAF by 2030.
Renato Pereira, CEO of HIF USA added, “Honeywell and HIF Global together will transform recycled CO2 into a useful feedstock to replace fossil fuels in the very hard to abate aviation sector. At HIF Global, we view Honeywell’s UOP eFining technology as the new frontier in sustainable aviation fuels and we look forward to deploying it to decarbonize over 12 billion air passenger miles per year.”