Honeywell (NASDAQ: HON) has announced its new UOP eFining™ technology for the production of low-carbon sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and the first commercial agreement for it with HIF Global, which will use the technology to produce eSAF in the USA.
Electrofuels, or eFuels, are synthetic fuels produced by combining green hydrogen and carbon dioxide (CO2) to make eMethanol which have become an important alternative to conventional fossil fuels. Sustainable fuels that can be produced using eMethanol include eSAF, eGasoline, and eDiesel.
Honeywell’s UOP eFining technology, which processes eMethanol into eSAF, is highly efficient and cheaper compared to other similar technologies, according to the company.
eSAF produced with this technology can lead to a 88% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to conventional jet fuel. It can also be blended with conventional jet fuel without any changes to aircraft technology or fuel infrastructure, Honeywell said.
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“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,” Lucian Boldea, president and CEO of Honeywell Performance Materials and Technologies, said in a comment.
HIF Global will be the first customer to use Honeywell’s new technology for the commercial production of eSAF at its second commercial-scale eFuels facility in the USA.
This is expected to be the largest eSAF plant in the would, with a capacity to recycle approx. 2 million tons of captured CO2 and produce 11,000 barrels of eSAF daily by 2030.
“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,” Renato Pereira, chief executive of HIF USA, said.
The announcement by Honeywell comes amid growing demand for SAF as both the USA and the European Union are stepping up their efforts to decarbonize the aviation sector.
Honeywell itself is committed to making its operations and facilities carbon neutral by 2035.
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