Honeywell is introducing a solution for the production of low-carbon sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and it has secured its first customer for the new technology. Highly Innovative Fuels (HIF) Global will be Honeywell’s first customer for its UOP eFining system. Houston-based SAF producer HIF plans to use it at its second commercial-scale eFuels facility in the U.S., which is expected to be the world's largest eSAF facility. HIF's refinery will be capable of recycling approximately two million tons of captured CO2 to make approximately 11,000 barrels of eSAF per day by 2030.
The UOP eFining system uses renewable resources to produce a type of synthetic jet fuel known as eFuels, or electrofuels. These eFuels combine “green” hydrogen—produced in electrolyzers using renewable energy and water—with CO2 to produce methanol, which can then be converted into fuels such as SAF, gasoline, and diesel. According to Honeywell, the UOP eFining system reduces life cycle greenhouse gas emissions by 88 percent versus jet-A.
"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."