UK-headed Johnson Matthey, a global leader in sustainable technologies, has announced that US-based sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) project developer DG Fuels LLC (DGF) has selected its award-winning Fischer-Tropsch CANS (FT CANS) technology – co-developed with bp – for DG Fuels’ first SAF plant in St. James Parish, Louisiana (LA).
DG Fuels is an emerging leader in renewable hydrogen, biogenic-based, synthetic SAF, and renewable diesel fuel.
The proposed US$4 billion DG Fuels plant is planned to produce 600,000 tonnes of SAF per year when fully operational and would be the largest announced SAF production plant using a non-hydrotreated esters and fatty acids (HEFA) route.
The plant would be the largest deployment of Fischer-Tropsch CANS to date, seven times larger than any previously announced project using this technology.
DG Fuels is planning 10 more SAF production plants across the United States, modelled on the Louisiana plant with JM and bp as the partners of choice for these facilities.
We are extremely excited to be moving forward with Johnson Matthey to execute our unique strategy of high carbon conversion. With this technology, we will create a product that is responsibly made and can be immediately substituted for conventional aviation fuel with no engine adaptations. This partnership is a significant boost to help the aviation industry reach its climate goals, said Christopher J. Chaput, President of DG Fuels.
Sugarcane waste
The fuel at the Louisiana plant is expected to be produced from waste biomass. DG Fuels is projected to purchase around US$120 million of sugarcane waste annually, a third of which is planned to be purchased from St. James Parish farmers.
JM and bp’s Fischer-Tropsch CANS technology converts the synthesis gas derived from this biomass to synthetic crude, which is then further processed to produce synthetic kerosene which is then blended with conventional jet fuel to produce SAF.
The size of this project is truly exciting and would help take the industry closer to wide-scale use of SAF. DG Fuels has ambitious plans and the fact it has secured agreements with major airlines demonstrates there is appetite in the market. Our FT CANS technology enables cost-effective deployment across a wide range of project sizes. We look forward to working with DG Fuels as a long-term partner for SAF production, said Maurits van Tol, Chief Executive for Catalyst Technologies at Johnson Matthey.
Current international certification for this SAF requires a blend of up to 50 percent with fossil kerosene to create a “drop-in SAF”. The plant is expected to start production by 2028.
The aviation industry is looking to greatly increase its use of SAF, and we’re proud that DG Fuels has selected our technology to be at the heart of its ambitious plans for large-scale SAF production. Our FT CANS technology solution brings together decades of science and engineering expertise from bp and JM, and this project shows its competitiveness across the range of production scales and feedstock sources the industry needs. We’re excited to see the relationship with DG Fuels grow, and we look forward to seeing this project come to fruition, said Noemie Turner, VP of Technology Development & Commercialisation at bp.
DG Fuels has already secured offtake agreements with major airlines, including multi-year deals with both Air France-KLM and Delta Air Lines.
DG Fuels also has a strategic partnership with Airbus to help make SAF available at scale around the world.
Using Johnson Matthey and bp’s co-developed Fischer Tropsch (FT) CANS technology allows DG Fuels to scale SAF at high-volume production and competitive prices for the first time ever. This innovation will take DG Fuels’ SAF from the sugar cane fields of Louisiana to cleaner skies all across the world, ended Michael Darcy, CEO of DG Fuels.
