The province of Chubut in Patagonia is large in area (224,686 km²), but very sparsely populated, with only around 600,000 inhabitants. There, in the middle of nowhere, a production plant for sustainable aviation fuel is to be built. The constantly blowing wind plays the main role in the decision-making process. Resistance from the few residents against the industrial project is not to be feared.
For many airlines, the lack of local SAF is an untenable situation: They still have to power their engines with SAF purchased in the USA, if they intend to improve their ecological footprint on routes to South Amerika. This is likely to remain the case for a few more years. However, come 2030, the manufacturer, Eco-Refinerías del Sur (ERS) in Chubut, plans to provide 100,000 tons of SAF to the aviation industry, with the prospect of gradually increasing the quantity to 500,000 tons per year. Although even that output will hardly be enough to sustainably reduce the greenhouse gas emissions caused by air traffic. However, for the subcontinent, it would be a start towards an ecological turnaround in passenger and air freight traffic.
Based on power-to-liquid technology
The German business developer, GreenSinnergy GmbH, in close cooperation with local Argentinian specialists, Ismael Retuerto and William Hughes. Last week, Chubut’s governor, Ignacio Torres presented the concept for the construction of the SAF plant in his province to the Senate in Buenos Aires. The project, which is based on power-to-liquid technology, aims to produce green hydrogen from wind energy and combine it with carbon dioxide using the Fischer-Tropsch process to generate low-emission liquid fuels. The Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis, jointly developed a century ago (1920), by Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch in Berlin, is a well-established and mastered technique used in the conversion of syngas to hydrocarbons and low-carbon liquid fuels for the transportation industry. In addition to the SAF plant, on 19DEC24 governor Torres unveiled plans for a free trade zone that includes 165 hectares in the former Trelew Industrial Park, a space that will be destined to industrialization activities and value-added services. The development site is in the vicinity of Marcos A. Zar International Airport, near the South Atlantic coast.
Savings of up to 1.5 million tons of CO2 per year
The first phase of Chubut’s SAF project would require an estimated investment of USD 2.5 billion, and the total costs of subsequent phases could exceed USD 6 billion.
The initiators estimate that their project could save up to 1.5 million tons of CO₂ per year once operational. It is also part of international efforts to move towards carbon neutrality in key sectors such as air transport. However, details of its economic viability and the specific contributions of the parties involved have yet to be presented publicly.
SAF production is still insufficient
Meanwhile, IATA reports that the global production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) will reach 1 million tons in 2024 (1.3 billion liters), doubling 2023 figures. However, this volume represents just 0.3% of global jet fuel production and 11% of global renewable fuel capacity.
According to the Montreal-headquartered aviation organization, the growth is trailing the initially anticipated volumes of 1.5 million tons, states IATA. The shortfall is caused by key energy providers based in the U.S., who postponed their operation to 2025. This is one of the main factors for the sobering output.
