In Japan, a project consortium consisting of Toyo Engineering Corporation (TOYO), JERA Co., Inc., Mitsubishi Power, Ltd., and ITOCHU Corporation (ITOCHU) will jointly start to establish a commercial-scale production technology for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) by integrating biomass gasification and Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis technologies, and create a domestic SAF supply chain.
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TOYO, JERA, and Mitsubishi Power have already completed the demonstration of a continuous SAF production using the technologies of gasification and FT synthesis in the first phase of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) sponsored “Biojet Fuel Production Technology Development Project” program, which was carried out from FY2017 to FY2021.
The produced SAF was supplied to a commercial domestic flight, JL515, conducted by Japan Airlines Co., Ltd (JAL) on June 17, 2021.
In this second phase, which will run from FY2021 to FY2024, the consortium will study how to materialize SAF production business and evaluate its business feasibility for approximately 2 years from FY2021. Based on the results, it will be decided to transfer to the implementation phase from FY2023.
TOYO will work with the basic design of commercial-scale FT synthesis (including distillation) facility while JERA will conduct a study of commercial-scale, applicable law and regulations, feedstock procurement, blending methods of neat SAF with petroleum-derived jet fuel, SAF market research, and business feasibility.
Mitsubishi Power will work with the basic design of a commercial-scale gasification facility and ITOCHU will conduct research into supply logistics of SAF, by-products, and the by-product markets.
Utilizing the knowledge accumulated in the demonstration project, we will promote this project toward the establishment of the entire supply chain including feedstock procurement, production technology, and product supply. TOYO, in close cooperation with the consortium members, will contribute to the study of optimal commercial-scale SAF production facility by utilizing the technical capabilities accumulated in plant engineering, in order to promote the realization of a sustainable society through CO2 emissions reduction in the aviation industry, said TOYO in a statement.