Ontario government chooses Rentech renewable jet fuel project for biomass supply
Clean energy firm Rentech said its proposed renewable energy center (Olympiad project) in White River, Ontario, has been selected by the Canadian province for a proposed supply of up to 1.1mn cubic metres/year (1.3mn US tons/year) of Crown timber.
The wood supply, composed primarily of forest waste and unmerchantable species, would be used for the sustainable production of renewable RenJet, Rentech’s clean certified low-carbon jet fuel.
The proposed wood allocation to Rentech’s project is the largest ever awarded wood supply process, administered by the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry.
The award would provide Rentech with a reliable long-term supply of biomass for its proposed Olympiad project. The Ministry selected Rentech’s proposal as the best proposed use of the available timber. The selection is the first step in the process of making the wood supply available to the project.
Rentech’s Olympiad project is being designed to produce approximately 85mn litres (23mn gal) annually of renewable and certified low-carbon RenJet fuel. The project will also produce 43mn litres (13mn gallons) annually of renewable naphtha, a chemical feedstock.
The Olympiad project, scheduled to be in service in 2015, will be designed as a state-of-the-art renewable energy facility that will employ the Rentech-ClearFuels biomass gasification system and the Rentech process to produce the only type of alternative jet fuel certified for use in commercial aviation, the company said.
These leading-edge technologies will enable Rentech to turn primarily unmerchantable and underutilized timber into clean, renewable jet fuel.
Rentech is working closely with Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), whose C$500 million NextGen Biofuels Fund (NGBF) offers a significant potential funding source for the Olympiad project.
After a year of discussions with SDTC, Rentech has recently submitted an application for funding to the NGBF, which funds up to 40% to a maximum of C$200 million of eligible project development and construction costs, which would be repaid from a percentage of the project’s cash flows.
“We are eager to deploy Rentech’s proven proprietary technologies to create certified, renewable, low-carbon jet fuel, while helping transform the forestry sector and creating new jobs,” said D. Hunt Ramsbottom, Rentech CEO.
“This selection in the province of Ontario’s competitive process underscores Rentech’s leadership role in a low carbon future and builds on the company’s success in developing clean fuel technologies that are ready for commercial-scale production today.”
Working with the province of Ontario and White River, Rentech has forged a significant partnership with the Pic River First Nation for up to an 18% equity interest in the project. The Pic River partnership is expected to create significant opportunities for the Aboriginal community through job creation and advanced skills training. Other Aboriginal communities, such as the Pic Mobert First Nation, will benefit from regional opportunities as well, the company said.
The project would bring employment to a region that has suffered significant job losses in recent years and revitalize a struggling forestry sector, the company said, while contributing to Ontario’s growing high-tech bio-energy economy. The project would leverage local sustainable forestry expertise, employ an estimated 83 full-time employees and create over 300 indirect and induced positions. During peak construction, Rentech expects the project to employ up to 1,000 workers.
Renewable RenJet and naphtha to be produced at the Olympiad project are estimated to reduce approximately 600,000 metric tonnes/year of CO2-equivalent from the atmosphere compared to the same products produced from petroleum. This equates to removing more than 100,000 passenger cars from the road.
Production of RenJet from forest waste and unmerchantable species at the Olympiad project has the dual benefit of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and providing Canada with a domestic supply of certified low-carbon jet fuel.
RenJet is virtually free of sulfur and aromatics. When compared to traditional jet fuel, tailpipe emissions from RenJet generate lower amounts of particulate matter, nitrogen oxides (NOX), and sulfur oxides (SOX). Life-cycle emissions of carbon dioxide are significantly below those of petroleum-based jet fuel. The lower density of RenJet fuel could enable aircraft to have a lower take-off weight, which conserves fuel and lowers operating costs.
Rentech operates a demonstration facility in Commerce City, Colorado, deploying its synthetic fuels technology that has produced over 150,000 litres (40,000 gal) of certified synthetic fuels.
In 2010, a commercial flight flew on a blend of Rentech’s synthetic jet fuel and conventional Jet-A with no difference in performance when compared to conventional jet fuel, the company said.
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