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A potential new SAF venture between Masdar and TotalEnergies: UAE’s renewables giant Masdar and French oil major TotalEnergies signed an agreement to explore the feasibility of using captured CO2 to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and green methanol, according to a statement released on Thursday.
What we know: The project will focus on decarbonizing “hard to abate, emission intensive sectors” including aviation and maritime industries, according to the statement. It will aim to use captured CO2 from industrial sources and green hydrogen as a feedstock to produce green methanol and SAF.
Building on prior agreements: The agreement follows a successful test flight during COP28 by a consortium comprising Masdar, TotalEnergies, Airbus, Axens, and Falcon Aviation Services demonstrating the potential for converting methanol to SAF. The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority worked with the companies on the pilot flight.
Why this matters: Methanol isn’t among the alcohols in the Alcohol-to-Jet Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene pathway which was certified in 2016 as meeting international standards for jet fuel. However, the flight used an SAF blend made from olefins, which can bypass the restrictions for obtaining the certificate. This new method can eventually allow for SAF to be produced from renewables (eSAF).
REMEMBER- Masdar has big SAF plans: Masdar signed an agreement with Airbus to jointly develop sustainable aviation fuels last year. The company also partnered with France’s Hy24-managed Clean Hydrogen Infrastructure Fund to boost large-scale green hydrogen production projects globally under efforts to set up a clean energy production value chain from renewables, to green hydrogen and its derivatives including green ammonia, e-methanol, sustainable aviation fuel, and liquid hydrogen. Masdar also signed an MoU with US aircraft maker Boeing to advance and support the development and adoption of SAF policies and projects locally and abroad.
And so does TotalEnergies: Satorp — a JV between Saudi oil giant Aramco and TotalEnergies — successfully converted cooking oil into SAF last November. The project will contribute to TotalEnergies’ goal of producing 1.5 mT of SAF annually by 2030. TotalEnergies and Airbus also inked a partnership earlier this year that would see TotalEnergies supplying Airbus with more than half of its needs in Europe for SAF.
