French sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) developer Elyse Energy has selected biofuel technology that will convert wood waste and forestry residues into cleaner jet fuel using clean hydrogen.
Elyse, alongside its project partners, selected thyssenkrupp Uhde’s BioTfueL® technology for its BioTJet project in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques region of France, which aims to produce 110,000 tonnes of e-fuels from 2029.
The biofuel technology was tested in a semi-industrial plant between 2010 and 2021 by the Bionext consortium, made up of Avril, Axens, CEA, IFP Energies Nouvelles, Total Energies, and thyssenkrupp Uhde.
In 2024, Axens signed a licence agreement for BioTfueL® technology, which includes thyssenkrupp Uhde’s PRENFLO® gasification and Axens’ GASEL®.
Pascal Penicaud, President of Elyse Energy, said the technology would help provide “cost-competitive” e-fuels.
Clean hydrogen will be used in the process to make it more efficient and cleaner. First, the wood waste is heated at high temperatures to break it down into syngas. Clean hydrogen is then added to improve the quality of the gas, making it more efficient for fuel production.
BioTJet is expected to be France’s “first” commercial e-biofuel plant. Once operational, it could produce 75,000 tonnes of SAF and 35,000 tonnes of naphtha for road transport and chemicals sectors.
Basic engineering was completed in November 2024, and the project is now in the detailed engineering phase.
It comes as the EU looks to bolster SAF’s uptake, with its ReFuelEU Aviation regulation mandating that SAF makes up 2% of European aviation fuel supplies in 2025 and increasing to 70% in 2050.
SAF is one solution to reduce aviation emissions; however, as of 2024, SAF production represented only 0.53% of global jet fuel use – with high costs and feedstock restraints limiting commercial production.
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