Fueling the future with new biofuels

INDIANAPOLIS — A new generation of biofuels is on the way, according to experts at Corteva Agriscience.

The biofuel industry is shifting to renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel, said Chad Edwards, project leader at Corteva, during a recent webinar.

“The market for renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel is really changing,” he said. “It’s growing quite rapidly for a couple of different reasons.

“Globally, we’re seeing a lot of strong greenhouse gas reduction mandates — it’s driving the energy sector on how to de-carbonize and meet these mandates.

“The advancement from a technology perspective is a real game changer. There’s no change to the existing engine design.

“Refineries can use existing footprints and refineries to produce this fuel by adding additional pretreatment and hydro-cracking units onsite to take that vegetable oil feedstock and turn it into renewable diesel or sustainable aviation fuel.”

Additionally, in the United States there’s been substantial investment in the space with the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act and the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge.

“In the U.S., we’re seeing a substantial growth potential for renewable diesel of close to 5 billion gallons of new capacity by 2025,” Edwards said.

Renewable diesel is made from vegetable oils, animal fats and used cooking oil. It can be blended from 1% to 100%. The fuel can be transported and stored in existing petroleum pipelines and storage tanks.

Sustainable aviation fuel is made from vegetable oils, animal fats, used cooking oil, ethanol and other waste feedstocks.

For sustainable aviation fuel, the blend is between 10% and 50%. It can be transported and stored after blending with JET ASTM standards.

Renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel can reduce greenhouse gas emissions with existing infrastructure and vehicle fleets.

To view the complete webinar, visit https://tinyurl.com/45wjk6nr.