Summit Next Gen to Use Honeywell Ethanol to Jet Fuel Technology for Production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel

May 16, 2023

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(Honeywell) The facility, to be located in the U.S. Gulf Coast region, will utilize Honeywell's leading Ethanol to Jet (ETJ) process technology to transform low-carbon ethanol into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF); The innovative project will produce nearly 250 million gallons of SAF per year and is expected to be operational in 2025

Honeywell today (May 15, 2023) announced that it will provide its Ethanol to Jet (ETJ) processing technology to Summit Next Gen, an affiliate of Summit Agricultural Group. Summit Next Gen will utilize Honeywell's ETJ technology to convert low-carbon ethanol into SAF.

Honeywell UOP ETJ process is ready-now and allows producers to convert ethanol produced from a variety of sources, including corn, sugar, and cellulosic material among others, into SAF. Depending on the ethanol feedstock, SAF produced with the Honeywell UOP ETJ process can reduce GHG emissions by 80% on a total lifecycle basis compared to petroleum-based jet fuel¹.

Summit Next Gen's ETJ facility will be located in the U.S. Gulf Coast region, providing access to significant logistics and utility infrastructure. The planned capacity is approximately 250 million gallons per year of SAF. Honeywell UOP will provide related engineering and technical services, equipment, catalysts and adsorbents, and technical support services for start-up and throughout the life of the plant. Honeywell's ETJ technology can be modularized off-site to enable, in many cases, lower installed costs and faster, less labor-intensive installation compared to job site construction.

"The creation of Summit Next Gen and our partnership with a technology leader like Honeywell UOP sets a new standard for the agriculture, ethanol, and aviation industries," said Bruce Rastetter, CEO of Summit Agricultural Group. "The agriculture and ethanol industries have a long history of continuous improvement producing more with less, and this has enabled forward-thinking ethanol producers to be favorably positioned for the present challenge of helping aviation reduce its carbon footprint."

"Replacing fossil fuels with SAF enables a material reduction in aviation related GHG emissions. Expanding SAF feedstocks to include ethanol, biomass, and CO₂ is essential to increasing the share of SAF of the total jet fuel demand," said Barry Glickman, vice president and general manager, Honeywell Sustainable Technology Solutions. "We are delighted to collaborate with Summit Next Gen to combine Honeywell UOP ETJ technology with Summit Agricultural Group's experience in low-carbon biofuels to help the aviation industry accelerate its decarbonization."

Demand for SAF continues to grow. In 2021, the Biden Administration announced its SAF Grand Challenge for the U.S. aviation fuel supply sector to produce at least three billion gallons of SAF per year by 2030 and reduce emissions from aviation by 20%, with an eventual goal of meeting 100% of U.S. aviation fuel demand with SAF by 2050. The European Council released its ReFuelEU Aviation rules as part of the 'Fit for 55' package, which aim to increase the share of sustainable fuels at EU airports from a minimum of 2% in 2025 to 70% by 2050. These and other incentives, including the Inflation Reduction Act, accelerate the need for alternative SAF feedstocks to meet demand.

SAF is nearly identical to petroleum-based jet fuel and can be used as a drop-in replacement without engine modifications in blends up to 50% currently. Click here to learn more about Honeywell UOP Ethanol to Jet Technology.

Honeywell is committed to achieving carbon neutrality in its operations and facilities by 2035. This commitment builds on the company's track record of sharply reducing the greenhouse gas intensity of its operations and facilities as well as its decades-long history of innovation to help its customers meet their environmental and social goals. About 60% of Honeywell's new product introduction research and development investment is directed toward products that improve environmental and social outcomes for customers.

About Honeywell

Honeywell (www.honeywell.com) delivers industry-specific solutions that include aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings and industry; and performance materials globally. Our technologies help aircraft, buildings, manufacturing plants, supply chains, and workers become more connected to make our world smarter, safer, and more sustainable. For more news and information on Honeywell, please visit www.honeywell.com/newsroom.

About Summit Agricultural Group

Summit Agricultural Group is a diversified agribusiness operator and investment manager with operations in the United States and Brazil. Summit deploys capital across the agricultural supply chain with a particular focus at the intersection of agriculture and renewable energy. For more information, visit: www.summitag.com.

_{¹ Based on the EPA's summary LCA of GHG emissions for sugarcane.}

Iowa based Summit Agricultural backs world's biggest plant for ethanol jet fuel (The Gazette)

Honeywell, Summit Agricultural to build world's biggest plant for ethanol jet fuel (Seeking Alpha)

World’s Biggest Plant for Ethanol Jet Fuel Expected to Open in 2025: Honeywell will provide the technology for the US plant; Airlines are under pressure to decrease their emissions (Bloomberg)

World’s biggest plant for ethanol jet fuel expected to open in 2025 (American Journal of Transportation)

Summit Next Gen To Use Honeywell Ethanol to Jet Fuel Technology for Production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (Aviation Pros)

Summit Agriculture Group to develop ethanol-to-SAF project (Ethanol Producer Magazine)

Excerpt from The Gazette: But perhaps the most controversial effort to boost the market for ethanol is the construction of underground pipelines meant to capture the CO2 emissions of ethanol plants and sequester them underground. Critics say the pipelines are unproven and pose risks to people and the environment. But beyond that, two of the three pipeline projects proposed for Iowa — which would generate federal tax credits — are asking the state for eminent domain power to be able to force easements from reluctant landowners.

Rastetter runs one of the pipeline companies, Summit Carbon Solutions, and is seeking permission of the state’s regulators for its approximately 680-mile route in Iowa — and also for eminent domain authority. The Summit route also runs through Nebraska, Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota, where it would sequester the liquefied C02.

“Ethanol plants that participate in carbon capture will have access to significant new markets like this both here in the U.S. and abroad,” Rastetter wrote Monday in an email to Iowa legislators. “We continue to believe that embracing new opportunities and markets will prove to be incredibly beneficial for Iowa agriculture. It’s hard not to be incredibly bullish on Iowa agriculture given the opportunities in front of biofuels going forward.”

Summit said it is in talks about providing SAF supplies to major airlines and freight companies.

The Alden-based Summit Agricultural founded FS Bioenergia, the largest corn-based ethanol platform in Brazil; Amber Wave, a food ingredients and biofuel plant in Kansas; and Summit Carbon Solutions, which is planned to connect more than 30 ethanol plants in the Upper Midwest.

The jet fuel project is a "natural extension" for the partner plants in the United States that will use the proposed Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline to decarbonize the ethanol production, said Summit Ag Investors President Justin Kirchhoff.

The SAF plant will be in a unique position given its location on the Gulf Coast to use a variety of ethanol feedstocks from different locations. It was not clear Monday how much of that would come from Iowa.

"We can produce a net negative carbon fuel in the U.S., and the only feedstock that has enough growth potential to make a difference on SAF is ethanol," said Rastetter.

The plant will be Honeywell's first ethanol SAF deal licensing its technology. Airlines will need to "expand the feedstocks" used to make fuel to include corn, because there's not enough being made from fats or oils alone to "meet the decarbonization goals for the airlines," said Barry Glickman, vice president and general manager, Honeywell Sustainable Technology Solutions. READ MORE