HIF Global awarded 1st US approval for eFuels design pathway

Photo: HIF Global

HIF Global announced March 11 that it has been awarded the first U.S. approval for an eFuels pathway.

The Tier 2 design-pathway certification, granted under the California Air Resource Board’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard program, strengthens the market for eFuels production, HIF Global stated.

eFuels are synthetic hydrocarbons that integrate with today’s existing infrastructure and engines.

“This LCFS certification underscores the growing demand for eFuels in the U.S. and globally, which could reach more than 250 million tons per year (mty) by 2035, providing opportunity for over $1 trillion in potential capital investment in new facilities to produce the fuels, including HIF Global’s 1.4 mty eFuels project in Matagorda County, Texas,” said Meg Gentle, executive director of the HIF Global board.

HIF’s Tier 2 design-pathway certification includes eSAF, eNaphtha, and eDiesel as opt-in fuels allowing producers to apply and generate credits for their eFuels under the program.

HIF Global is developing large infrastructure projects to recycle captured CO2 and produce synthetic hydrocarbons for existing engines.

The company said the name HIF represents its mission to provide highly innovative fuels that advance global energy sustainability.

HIF is producing eFuels today at its HIF Haru Oni eFuels facility in southern Chile and is developing commercial-scale eFuels facilities in United States, Uruguay, Australia and Chile.

California’s LCFS is a policy designed to reduce the carbon intensity of transportation fuels by promoting the use of cleaner, lower-carbon alternatives.

Under the LCFS, fuel producers and importers must ensure that the carbon intensity (CI), measured in grams of CO2-equivalent per megajoule, of the fuels they supply decreases over time.

This is achieved by increasing the use of biofuels, electricity, hydrogen and other alternative fuels that produce fewer greenhouse-gas emissions.

The standard sets annual CI-reduction targets, and companies that exceed these reduction targets can earn credits, which they can sell to others who fall short of compliance.