Ultralow Carbon SAF from Corn Stover
7.5 billion gallons per year of SAF by 2040
Sustainable Aviation Fuel from Renewable Ethanol
ABOUT
7.5 billion gallons per year of SAF by 2040
How It Works
Processing corn stover: The corn stover used in the SAFFiRE process is a waste feedstock that would otherwise be left to decompose in the fields. Corn stover is collected by or purchased from local farmers and processed through a proprietary deacetylation and disk refining technology developed by NREL called “pretreatment.”
Converts into renewable ethanol: Once the corn stover is pretreated, we use existing, proven technology to hydrolyze, ferment, and separate it into renewable ethanol.
Upgrades to sustainable aviation fuel: Alcohol-to-jet technology is utilized to ultimately upgrade renewable ethanol into fully certified sustainable aviation fuel that can be used in aircraft.
More on the Technology
“Overall the technology risk is low as most of the process has been demonstrated at commercial scale.”
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NREL has repeatedly demonstrated Deacetylation and Mechanical Refining (DMR) pretreatment at pilot scale; DMR uses standard, off-the-shelf equipment used in the pulp and paper industry
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All other unit operations to produce SAF from corn stover are commercial; we use commercially available enzymes and yeast
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The LanzaJet Alcohol-to-Jet process is commercial
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LanzaJet has received ASTM D4054 approval for its SAF
PARTNERS
SAFFiRE Partners
Project Partners
WHY SAFFIRE
Why SAFFiRE?
Sustainable Aviation Fuel From Renewable Ethanol
SAFFiRE
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The global aviation industry seeks to reduce its GHG emissions by 50% by 2050
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To meet its decarbonization goals, the aviation industry requires billions of gallons of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)
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The current cost of SAF is high; production costs must be reduced to meet long-term GHG reduction goals
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More sources of low-cost feedstock are required as fats, oils, and greases currently used to make SAF are not available in enough volume to meet SAF demand
CONTACT
Tom Nealon, CEO
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Southwest Airlines Senior Advisor
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Former President and EVP of Strategy and Innovation at Southwest Airlines
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30+ years of driving results at the executive level at Southwest Airlines, JCPenney, and Frito Lay
Mark Yancey, CTO
Email: Myancey@d3maxllc.com
Phone: 303-906-6234
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Principal Investigator/D3Max CTO
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30+ years of experience in the ethanol industry including project development and technology commercialization
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Developed seven bioenergy plants
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Successful commercialization of corn fiber cellulosic ethanol technology