Global Bioenergies delivers batch of SAF for testing funded by French military

Global Bioenergies announced Nov. 16 that it has delivered a 200-liter (53-gallon) batch of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for tests commissioned as part of the GENOPTAIRE project funded by the French government defense procurement and technology agency (DGA).

The project, which forms part of the ministry’s defense-energy strategy, seeks to promote technological advances in the design and use of military platforms making use of electric-powered transport and alternative fuels.

At the moment, in order to streamline logistics in the armed forces, aviation fuel is used in both aircraft and land vehicles.

One of the aims of the GENOPTAIRE project is to identify and assess the impact of bio-sourced components mixed with conventional aviation fuels on engine performance in land vehicles used by the French Army.

Representatives of the DGA and military staff involved in the project issued the following statement.

“The batch delivered by Global Bioenergies will be tested first by the project participants (IFPEN, ONERA and SEO) in combination with fossil kerosene for physicochemical analysis. Subsequently, the military staff’s operational energy department (EMA/SEO) plans to conduct engine trials.”

Marc Delcourt, CEO of Global Bioenergies, said, “Having our products assessed by the French Army is a major step forward in our trajectory. We imagine that converting local feedstocks into both civil and military transportation fuels could be of strategic interest for the country.”

Global Bioenergies’ technology converts industrial sugars into isobutene. Three isobutene molecules combined together form isododecane, which is the basis for the company’s SAF.