Conestoga Energy to host SAFFiRE Renewables’ cellulosic ethanol pilot plant

In Kansas, Conestoga Energy and SAFFiRE Renewables announced recently their agreement for Conestoga to host SAFFiRE’s cellulosic ethanol pilot plant at Conestoga’s Arkalon Energy ethanol facility in Liberal, Kansas. The SAFFiRE pilot project aims to validate and demonstrate the commercialization of SAFFiRE’s corn-stover-to-ethanol technology in a fully integrated pilot facility that processes 10 tons of corn stover per day. Both Conestoga and SAFFiRE are focused on producing ultra-low carbon intensity (CI) ethanol for use in renewable fuels, making this a synergistic relationship.

The cellulosic ethanol from the SAFFiRE pilot project and potential future commercial facilities is planned to be upgraded to ultra-low CI sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in support of the aviation industry’s decarbonization efforts. SAF is fuel produced from non-fossil fuel sources that can result in lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than conventional jet fuel on a lifecycle basis. SAF is a drop-in fuel when blended with conventional jet fuel and is crucial to decarbonizing aviation.