“The international carriers are very interested in this because most of them operate into Europe as well as North America and Asia and being able take on this fuel in Alaska would help them meet European Union rules for carbon reduction in aviation fuel,” Keith said. The EU is requiring that airlines use a 20% blend of sustainable and conven - tional fuels by 2035 and 42% by 2045. For Alaska, the key advantage is providing the fuel regionally to help “anchor” the international cargo op - erators that now stop in Alaska. Most large cargo planes are capable of fly - ing trans-Pacific and trans-Polar routes nonstop but the economics are still attractive for freight operators to stop in Alaska to refuel midway on flights. That’s because carrying less fuel allows for more cargo to be car - ried, maximizing revenue. Providing cargo carriers with a cost-effective supply of SAF would give them an incentive to continue refueling stops in Alaska even if tech - nology advances improve the eco - nomics of flying nonstop. At this point, the Alaska team working on the initial feasibility are looking at two technology paths, Keith said. One is a Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA) pro - cess using organic material like fish oil from Alaska seafood processing plants to produce synthetic kerosene for blending. Plants elsewhere pro - ducing renewable aviation and diesel fuels mostly use the HEFA process. The second approach is a Fisch - er-Tropsch technology that would rely mainly on the large amount of forest biomass available. Fischer-Tropsch process is used today in South Africa to produce fuel from coal and natural gas, and was widely used in Germany during World War II. But there are still uncertainties. “While the FT process is proven, not many F-T refineries exist globally and not with biomass as a feedstock. That, combined with our plan for car - bon sequestration mean that many aspects will be new,” Keith said. “There is a plant similar in feedstock and scale to ours, scheduled to be op - erational in 2028 in Louisiana.” DG Fuels’ plant, located in St. James Parish, will have a planned ca - pacity of 13,000 barrels per day of SAF, according to company information. Keith said Fischer-Tropsch is cost - ly, but with the large volumes of forest material available, Fischer-Tropsch
or 9.8 million green tons (with higher moisture), would be needed. The existing fuel infrastructure near Anchorage offers advantag - es, Keith said. Anchorage’s port has 3.4 million gallons of fuel storage to supply both its airport and Joint Base Elemendorf-Richardson, a nearby military installation. If the SAF plant is built at or near an existing Marathon Petroleum refin - ery on the Kenai Peninsula, it can use an existing 67-mile liquids pipeline to move the SAF fuel to bulk storage in Anchorage. An alternative plant site at Port MacKenzie, a short distance from Anchorage across Knik Arm of Upper Cook Inlet, could see the SAF fuel barged to storage facilities at Anchorage’s port.
could be to be more cost effective than HEFA. Studies also show that Alaska’s fisheries will be able to supply only 9% of a plant’s target output, as - suming that only byproducts like fish oil are used. Also, the largest fish processing plants are a considerable distance from Anchorage. A smaller HEFA plant could still be viable with additional organic feedstock, such as municipal waste. The forest biomass is closer, most - ly within 150 miles of Anchorage in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough and Kenai Peninsula. Estimates are that 46.2 million dry tons of live and dead timber can be reached within 1 mile of existing roads. For a target output of 150 million gallons a year of SAF, about 4.9 million dry tons of forest biomass,
— Tim Bradner TEMSCO
Serving all of Alaska since 1958 HELICOPTERS, INC.
TIMBER EXPLORATION MINING SURVEY CARGO OPERATIONS
TEMSCO Helicopters, Inc PO Box 5057 Ketchikan, Alaska 99901 Phone 907-225-5141 • fax 907-225-2340 • www.TemscoAir.com
39
www.AlaskaAlliance.com
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker