Sekisui Chemical and Velocys have signed an MOU to produce electro-sustainable aviation fuel, or e-SAF, from carbon dioxide, or CO₂.
The project’s goal is to create a highly efficient e-SAF manufacturing process. By combining their technologies, the companies aim to achieve high CO conversion rates of 90% to 95%. The partners will work to establish this technology on a commercial scale, ultimately contributing to a more sustainable future for the aviation industry and helping to realize carbon neutrality by 2050.
This CO₂-derived synthetic fuel is a key component of the global effort to decarbonize the aviation industry, which accounts for approximately 2.6% of global carbon emissions.
According to the press release, “This partnership combines Sekisui Chemical’s CO₂→CO chemical looping technology with Velocys’ Fischer-Tropsch microchannel reactor technology to enable the manufacture of synthetic fuels using CO₂ as a feedstock, thus contributing to decarbonization.”
While conventional SAF is currently produced from waste oil and biomass, the expected rise in demand necessitates the development of e-SAF, which is manufactured using CO₂ and hydrogen from renewable energy. Both companies bring unique strengths to this partnership.
Sekisui Chemical has developed a chemical looping technology that converts CO₂ into CO with a reaction yield of 90% or higher. Velocys, with over two decades of experience, offers a proprietary catalyst and microchannel reactor design that increases productivity by six to ten times compared to conventional Fischer-Tropsch reaction technology.
