Honeywell has announced that Verso Energy will deploy Honeywell UOP’s eFining™ methanol-to-jet technology to produce electro-sustainable aviation fuel (eSAF) at seven planned facilities in France, Finland and the United States.
The projects are expected to produce a combined 200 million gallons of eSAF annually. Honeywell said its standardised plant design and processing technology would help reduce capital costs, shorten project timelines and support the expansion of global sustainable aviation fuel capacity.
Honeywell’s eFining technology converts carbon dioxide from biogenic sources, renewable electricity and hydrogen into electrofuels, including eSAF. When blended with conventional jet fuel, eSAF can be used in existing aircraft and infrastructure. The company said lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by up to 88% compared with fossil-based jet fuel.
Antoine Huard, Chief Executive of Verso Energy, said scaling cost-effective eSAF production would be key to helping airlines meet regulatory requirements, including the European Union’s ReFuelEU Aviation initiative, which mandates increasing shares of sustainable aviation fuels by 2050.
Verso Energy has received support from the EU Innovation Fund for its first two projects, DEZiR and ReSTart, which are set to become among the first large-scale European facilities dedicated exclusively to eSAF production. The DEZiR project has also secured funding from the French government and is expected to begin operations in 2030.
Honeywell’s wider renewable fuels portfolio includes Ecofining™, FT Unicracking™, biocrude upgrading and ethanol-to-jet technologies, aimed at enabling diversified feedstocks for next-generation fuels.
