U.S. Military Has Mandate For Jet And Other Fuels From
Renewable Feedstocks
Accelergy
Corporation announced a strategic partnership with the Energy &
Environmental Research Center (EERC) Tuesday at the University of
North Dakota. Under the terms of the agreement, Accelergy will
license EERC’s proprietary technology as part of its Coal
Biomass to Liquids (CBTL) process to accelerate the development of
specialty liquid jet fuels used by the military from cleaner and
non-petroleum sources.
This news comes on the heels of a recent $4.7 million contract
between EERC and U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) that will fund the
development of the first completely renewable JP-8 jet fuel. The
USAF currently uses JP-8 in all their aircraft, and has been
researching alternative sources to petroleum-based fuels following
a recent mandate to procure 50 percent of its fuel sources
domestically and from greener sources.
“This partnership is good news for North Dakota and
another Red River Valley Research Corridor success story,”
said U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. “I’ve worked
vigorously to help the EERC develop into a world-class research
center. Clearly, the EERC’s cutting-edge capabilities are now
in high demand.”
“For decades, the EERC has been dedicated to creating
cost-effective environmental solutions for our country’s
energy challenges, and we have long recognized that smart
public-private sector partnerships are key to commercializing
promising technologies,” said Gerald H. Groenewold, Director
of the EERC. “We believe Accelergy’s integrated
production process is paramount to the rapid adoption of
domestically produced specialty fuels, and we fully expect to help
drive this endeavor forward with our technology.”
With the
capabilities to produce a cleaner, non-petroleum based fuel that
exceeds JP-8 specs, Accelergy utilizes proprietary micro-catalytic
conversion technologies licensed from Exxon Mobil Research and
Engineering Company. Accelergy’s integrated CBTL process
domestically produces a tunable range of low net-carbon fuels
including premium gasoline, diesel, Jet-A, and military JP-5, JP-8,
and JP-9 jet fuels. The CBTL process is unique in its ability to
maintain a high overall thermal efficiency while significantly
reducing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with comparable
refining methods.
“Partnering with a demonstrated leader in clean energy
research and technology uniquely positions Accelergy to
domestically produce high volumes of cleaner fuels to meet
ever-increasing needs for our nation’s military
aircraft,” said Tim Vail, CEO of Accelergy. “As global
demand for transportation fuel grows, EERC’s scalable,
feedstock-flexible process provides a crucial element to our hybrid
process, enabling cost-effective, next-generation liquid
fuels.”
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