Syntholene Publishes Independent Validation of Step-Change Cost Reduction for Synthetic Jet Fuel

May 08, 2026

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(Syntholene/Newsfile Corp) Fuel Expert Robert Rapier Validates Syntholene's Unique Pathway to Low-Cost Hydrogen and Synthetic Aviation Fuel -- Syntholene Energy Corp. (TSXV: ESAF) (FSE: 3DD0) (OTCQB: SYNTF) ("Syntholene" or the "Company") has published an independent technical and economic report (the "Report") that validates its thermally integrated synthetic fuel production pathway is technically feasible and a viable engineering route to low-cost hydrogen and synthetic aviation fuel production.

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The Report was authored by Robert Rapier, a globally recognized oil and gas expert with a reputation for rigorous analysis of fuel production systems. He determined that Syntholene's thermally integrated electrolysis platform is engineered to deliver unsubsidized hydrogen production costs in the range of $1.50 to $2 per kilogram under favorable conditions. Hydrogen is the dominant cost in synthetic aviation fuel production (IEA), and generating it at low cost is central to achieving cost competitive synthetic fuel. Current unsubsidized estimates of analogous green hydrogen prices include $6.69 per kilogram in Europe and $6.90 per kilogram in North America (IMARC).

"Syntholene offers a credible path to low-cost, zero-carbon hydrogen and synthetic aviation fuel, with the potential to become a cornerstone of industrial decarbonization and clean fuel production," said Rapier. "Some of the projects I see are alchemy. Syntholene's is not. It's technically viable. It's now a matter of testing and proving, and the remaining challenges have been identified and can be solved."

Rapier has led and reviewed projects across the major alternative fuel pathways, including gas-to-liquids (GTL), vegetable-oil-to-diesel, and biomass-to-liquids via Fischer-Tropsch (FT). After receiving degrees in chemistry, mathematics, and chemical engineering, he worked at ConocoPhillips on hydrogen production and FT upgrading challenges. He was later recruited to serve as editor-in-chief of Shale Magazine and has covered the energy sector for Forbes for over a decade.

"Mr. Rapier is one of the most respected, credible, and skeptical experts across the alternative fuel sector," said Dan Sutton, CEO of Syntholene. "To have earned his validation of our technical and economic viability is a watershed moment for Syntholene, as we continue construction on our demonstration facility and work to make synthetic aviation fuel an economically competitive reality."

Technical and Economic Assessment Report

The Report evaluates the technical, economic and operational viability of Syntholene's process and is intended to support investor diligence and reinforce the commercial feasibility of its technology.

The Report confirms that by substituting heat for a portion of its electricity demand, Syntholene's system can operate using less than 37 kilowatt-hours per kilogram of hydrogen (kWh/kg H₂). The Company's process has the potential to produce hydrogen and synthetic aviation fuel at a cost competitive with fossil-derived aviation fuel.

The Report also confirms that key materials required for Syntholene process, including ceramic electrolytes, nickel catalysts, and stainless-steel interconnects, are less constrained compared to those used in conventional PEM electrolyzers, giving Sytholene a potential advantage in long-term scalability, cost stability and resilience to geopolitical supply risks.

Notably, the Report identified the remaining scaling and development challenges as engineering and integration problems with defined solutions, rather than scientific unknowns. The Report evaluates challenges such as securing competitive long term energy offtakes, sourcing carbon, and construction risks as non-trivial, but tractable. These and other construction, economic, regulatory, and market risks remain inherent in the scaling of fuel production infrastructure. According to the Report, these risks are manageable through disciplined project management of a staged and modular development strategy. The Report also underscores the importance of the demonstration facility Syntholene is currently building in Iceland, which is intended to validate system performance under real-world conditions using base-load geothermal power and heat integration.

The Company remains optimistic that the projected efficiency gains from its proprietary Thermal Hybrid Production System are aligned with growing global demand for fuels decoupled from fossil and biological crude feedstocks. Syntholene's development roadmap emphasizes staged validation, third-party testing, and strategic partnerships as mechanisms designed to de-risk execution and support future commercial scale-up.

The Report, "Syntholene Technical and Economic Assessment - Summary Findings," is available at syntholene.com.

About Robert Rapier

Robert Rapier is a seasoned chemical engineer with over three decades of international experience in the energy sector. He holds undergraduate degrees in chemistry and mathematics, and a master's in chemical engineering. Robert has worked extensively in oil refining, production, synthetic fuels, biomass energy, and alcohol production, earning several patents along the way. As Editor-in-Chief of Shale Magazine and a prolific author for Investing Daily, he shares his expertise through various newsletters and his book, Power Plays. Robert's insights have been featured on 60 Minutes, The History Channel, CNBC, and PBS, among others. His articles have appeared in top publications like the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and The Economist. For over a decade, he has covered the energy sector for Forbes. (Forbes)

Robert's due diligence and troubleshooting work is both extensive and international. As CTO for a Hawaii-based entrepreneur, he evaluated advanced fuel ventures worldwide, including Shell's GTL complex in Bintulu, Malaysia, as well as projects in Panama, Switzerland, Malaysia, and New Zealand. He assessed and assisted with CHOREN's wood-to-diesel effort in Germany, then backed by Shell and Volkswagen, documenting how compounding engineering issues can become program-stopping risks. He also evaluated Carbon Recycling International in Iceland, analyzing their geothermal-enabled methanol production from CO₂ and hydrogen, and reported his findings in Forbes.

He has publicly and rigorously assessed biofuel companies such as Gevo and KiOR, where he served as an expert witness for the State of Mississippi and forecasted KiOR's bankruptcy on 60 Minutes. He has also authored a book chapter outlining practical due-diligence questions for investors in alternative-fuel projects, "Investing in Cleantech: A Guide to Technical Due Diligence," Chapter 10 of Power Plays: Energy Options in the Age of Peak Oil (2012), pp. 147-159.

Across these engagements, Robert has specialized in identifying refinery-integration constraints, product-slate challenges in Fischer-Tropsch systems, and the economic choke points that determine whether technically viable fuels can scale competitively. He is recognized as a leading global expert in the rapidly evolving synthetic fuel sector.

About Syntholene

Syntholene is actively commercializing its novel Hybrid Thermal Production System for low-cost clean fuel synthesis. The target output is ultrapure synthetic jet fuel, which the Company seeks to manufacture at 70% lower cost than the nearest competing technology today. The Company's mission is to deliver the world's first truly high-performance, low-cost, and carbon-neutral synthetic fuel at an industrial scale, unlocking the potential to produce clean synthetic fuel at lower cost than fossil fuels, for the first time. Syntholene has begun construction of the world's first geothermally-integrated high temperature electrolysis demonstration facility in Husavik, Iceland.

Founded by experienced operators across advanced energy infrastructure, nuclear technology, low-emissions steel refining, process engineering, and capital markets, Syntholene aims to be the first team to deliver a scalable modular production platform for cost-competitive synthetic fuel, thus accelerating the commercialization of carbon-neutral eFuels across global markets. READ MORE; includes VIDEO