ExxonMobil announces a unique process technology to enable the manufacture of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from renewable methanol.
“SAF produced from renewable methanol can play an important role in helping the aviation industry achieve the transition to a net-zero future. Reaching that goal by 2050 will require a multi-faceted approach, including advancements in aircraft-related technology, changes to infrastructure and operations and a dramatic increase in SAF supply. Our process technology can be an important step in this direction,” says Russ Green, ExxonMobil’s lower-emission fuels venture executive, in a news release from the organization.
ExxonMobil says it is leveraging its core capabilities to develop an offering that converts methanol to SAF. Methanol derived from the gasification of biomass and waste, as well as from lower-carbon hydrogen and captured carbon dioxide (CO2), can be converted into SAF using ExxonMobil’s methanol to jet proprietary process technology and catalysts. Preliminary estimates by ExxonMobil reportedly suggest that this offering has a higher yield of jet fuel than other options. The ExxonMobil offering also provides the flexibility to use a mix of alcohols as feedstock and produce renewable diesel and lower-carbon chemical feedstocks.
“Methanol to jet technology is scalable and suitable for the conversion of methanol produced from today's world-scale plants. The work necessary to qualify the resulting renewable jet fuel pathway has already started,” says James Ritchie, president of ExxonMobil Catalysts and Licensing LLC.
Additionally, ExxonMobil has process technology and catalysts that are available to customers today which convert other renewable biofeeds, such as used cooking oils, animal fats, and vegetable oil, into renewable jet fuel.
Read the entire news release at: www.exxonmobil.com
