Breakthrough in SAF production underway in Tampere, Finland

Liquid Sun has collaborated with Austrian GIG Karasek to pilot a technology that might soon revolutionise SAF production. In February 2024, the two companies announced their partnership to convert CO₂ into carbon monoxide – a vital component for SAF. Now, an industrial-scale production demo is well underway in Tampere, Finland.

“Simply put, the SAF produced in this demo could power a test flight, and the next phase commercial SAF pilot could fuel an Airbus A330,” said Liquid Sun’s CTO, Harri Ali-Löytty.

The Tampere demo marks Finland’s first foray into industrial-scale low-temperature electrolysis (LTE). This process transforms CO₂ into green carbon monoxide, a key ingredient in producing SAF. The demo has progressed rapidly, with the unit successfully passing preliminary tests, and is now operational in Tampere for further testing and refinement.

What sets this technology apart is its scalability. The operational parameters achieved in this trial are ready to be scaled up to industrial levels — an essential step toward commercialisation.

Although the current unit uses a limited number of electrolyser cells to optimise testing, successful results from even a single cell represent a significant breakthrough for the commercial production of SAF. Scaling up will involve increasing the number of cells in the system.

“As a next step, the subsequent pilot unit will be 1000 times larger. The global demand for SAF is enormous, and existing production technologies simply can’t keep up,” explained Ali-Löytty.

The SAF blending mandate, set to take effect in 2025, is crucial in reducing aviation’s carbon footprint. This mandate will require fuel producers to incorporate renewable fuels, starting at 2% and gradually increasing, making it imperative to develop new technologies to meet this rising demand. Starting from 2030, the blending mandate will require a growing share of synthetic SAFs. This is the core market for Liquid Sun as the synthetic SAF (eSAFs) has to be produced from CO₂.

Liquid Sun’s technology is entirely fossil-free, scalable, and easily integrated into existing infrastructure. Its straightforward implementation could make renewable fuels a cost-competitive alternative to fossil fuels much sooner than anticipated. To this day, the cost has been a significant barrier to accelerating the green transition.

In 2024, the EU’s SAF production capacity is expected to reach 0.24 million t. However, to meet the blending mandate, production must scale up to 2.3 million t by 2030.

“Our demonstration is a major step toward the commercial production of eSAF. The Nordic region, with its abundant forestry resources and biogenic CO₂, has immense potential for SAF production. Our technology offers a realistic path to achieving emissions reduction targets, but success will require coordinated action across the entire value chain. SAF users, in particular, will play a pivotal role,” said Liquid Sun CEO, Pasi Keinänen.

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/clean-fuels/03092024/breakthrough-in-saf-production-underway-in-tampere-finland/