United, Honeywell invest in new clean tech co Alder Fuels

United and Honeywell announced a joint multimillion-dollar investment in Alder Fuels, a clean tech company that is pioneering first-of-its-kind technologies for producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at scale by converting abundant biomass, such as forest and crop waste, into sustainable low-carbon, drop-in replacement crude oil that can be used to produce aviation fuel. When used together across the fuel lifecycle, the Alder technologies, coupled with Honeywell's Ecofining process, could have the ability to produce a carbon-negative fuel at spec with today's jet fuel. The goal of the technologies is to produce fuel that is a 100 per cent drop-in replacement for petroleum jet fuel. The Honeywell India Technology Center (HITC) in Gurugram plays a vital role for Honeywell globally in developing and demonstrating refining and petrochemical process technology, including the new technology. HITC was established in 2012 and is the only such facility outside of Des Plains, IL, in the US.

As part of the agreement, United is committing to purchase 1.5 billion gallons of SAF from Alder when produced to United's requirements. United's purchase agreement, which is one and a half times the size of the known purchase commitments of all global airlines combined, makes this easily the largest publicly announced SAF agreement in aviation history. United's purchase agreement with Alder also surpasses the previous record set by the airline in 2015 through its investment in Fulcrum BioEnergy with its option to purchase up to 900 million gallons of SAF.

"Since announcing our 100 per cent green commitment in 2020, United has stayed focused on decarbonizing without relying on the use of traditional carbon offsets. Part of that commitment means increasing SAF usage and availability since it's the fastest way to reduce emissions across our fleet. However, to scale SAF as quickly as necessary, we need to look beyond existing solutions and invest in research and development for new pathways like the one Alder is developing," said United CEO Scott Kirby. "United has come further than any other airline making sustainable travel a reality by using SAF to power flights. Our leadership gives customers confidence that they are flying with an airline that recognizes the responsibility we have to help solve climate change."

"As a pioneer of the SAF market with UOP Ecofining technology, our work with United and Alder on this new technology will help transform the industry and support the growth of a zero-carbon economy," said Darius Adamczyk, Honeywell chairman and chief executive officer. "This solution will not only advance United's SAF commitment but can help the aviation industry meet its commitments to decouple increases in carbon emissions from growth in passengers."

According to the US Department of Energy (DOE), US forestry residues and agricultural residues alone could provide enough biomass energy to generate more than 17 billion gallons of jet fuel and displace 75 per cent of US aviation fuel consumption. If the US were to broadly adopt regenerative agricultural practices, which capture more carbon in healthier soil compared to traditional methods, the US could generate an additional seven billion gallons of SAF, which would completely replace the US's current fossil jet fuel consumption. Alder's technology and demand for its fuel from the aviation industry create a large new market for biomass from regenerative practices. Use of this biomass further enables Alder's production process to be carbon negative over the fuel's lifecycle. "Aviation poses one of the greatest technology challenges for addressing climate change and SAF has demonstrated the greatest potential. However, there is insufficient raw material to meet demand," said Bryan Sherbacow, CEO of Alder Fuels and senior advisor to World Energy, the company that owns and operates the world's first SAF refinery. "Alder's technology revolutionizes SAF production by enabling use of widely available, low-cost and low-carbon feedstock. The industry is now a major step closer to using 100 per cent SAF with our drop-in fuel that accelerates the global transition to a zero-carbon economy."

Prior to founding Alder, Sherbacow built the world's first SAF refinery utilizing Honeywell's technology and subsequently contracted with United, enabling the airline to become the first globally to use SAF in regular operations on a continuous basis. Since then, United has purchased more SAF than any other airline and, with this agreement now, has more than 70 per cent of the airline industry's publicly announced SAF commitments.

Honeywell innovation established the SAF market with its UOP Ecofining process, which is the first technology used to maximize SAF production for commercial aviation. Building on Honeywell's focus to create sustainable technology, Honeywell will utilize its expertise and proven process of developing sustainable fuels alongside Alder, applying proprietary hydroprocessing design to the process to jointly commercialize the technology. Commercialization is expected by 2025.