UK-headed smaller scale gas-to-liquids (GTL) technology developer Velocys plc, has announced the commencement of an initial engineering study on the development of a new waste-to-liquids (WTL) project in the United Kingdom.
According to a statement, the proposed project would take “hundreds of thousands” of tonnes per year of post-recycled waste, destined for landfill or incineration, and convert it into clean-burning, sustainable jet fuel, and renewable diesel. Velocys is partnering on this project with a company affiliated to its largest shareholder, Ervington Investments.
The partners have commissioned an engineering study that is being carried out by Amec Foster Wheeler, the international engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) company.
We continue to see economic opportunities around the world with both natural gas and other feedstocks. We are excited by the prospect of being involved in finding a successful route to a waste-to-liquids plant incorporating our technology in the UK, where a combination of gate fees and fuel credits aid plant economics. We have strong customer interest because this would be one of the few commercial options for making sustainable jet fuel. Velocys and Ervington have a mutual strategic interest in delivering a commercial scale WTL solution and see this UK opportunity as meeting our joint criteria for success, said David Pummell, CEO of Velocys.
At the beginning of this year, UK national air carrier British Airways (BA) announced that it had mothballed the GreenSky sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) project that was to convert municipal solid waste (MSW) into biojet and renewable diesel fuel following the bankruptcy of the main technology supplier, Solena Fuels Corporation in October 2015. Velocys was also a technology partner in the GreenSky project.