Consortium to explore the production of SAF from methanol

The Masdar-led initiative, including TotalEnergies, Siemens Energy and Marubeni, focused on green hydrogen to produce SAF, will provide one more option to address the global need to produce and make SAF available globally and decarbonise the aviation industry.

A green hydrogen-focused consortium has announced it’s working with licensors to certify a new production pathway for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from methanol.

Since 2021, the partners within the consortium have completed a range of evaluations on technology suppliers, feasibility studies and conceptual designs, while also working with regulators on compliance issues.

The consortium has been collaborating with the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy, Etihad Airways, Lufthansa Group and Khalifa University of Science and Technology, on a demonstration initiative for e-SAF.

SAF is an immediately available solution for reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of air transportation and can be used as a drop-in fuel without modifying existing storage and refuelling infrastructure, aircraft or engines.

The Alcohol to Jet Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene pathway (ATJ-SPK) was certified in 2016 as meeting international standards for jet fuel and it covers several alcohols like ethanol and iso-butanol.

The consortium’s objective is to widen the range of alcohols in the pathway by getting methanol included in its remit, however the components of the MTJ pathway have not yet been integrated for the purposes of making SAF and this route is not yet certified.

Last year, TotalEnergies and Air Liquide collaborated to produce low-carbon hydrogen by recycling residual biogas from a refinery, with Air Liquide investing $130m into the construction and operation of the hydrogen production unit in France.

TotalEnergies will use the hydrogen produced from the site to produce SAF, with a view for it to be used to support sustainable mobility in the Ile-de-France region.