Infinium launches mSAF platform, extending its commercial-product offerings to methane feedstocks

Infinium introduced Sept. 21 its mSAF product offering, a new methane-derived sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) platform that converts renewable natural gas, biogas, flare gas and other qualified methane streams into low-carbon aviation fuel.

The new offering expands the feedstocks and locations available for Infinium projects while complementing the company’s growing CO2-based eSAF business.

The expansion addresses a fundamental challenge for aviation: No single feedstock pathway can produce all of the low-carbon fuel needed to satisfy rising SAF mandates and industry commitments.

Renewable natural gas, biogas, flare gas and other methane streams are already aggregated at landfills, dairies, wastewater facilities and gas-gathering systems across North America, Asia, Europe and other geographies and are increasingly looking for diversified end-use opportunities.

“mSAF expands what Infinium’s platform can do,” said Infinium CEO Robert Schuetzle. “It gives us another way to apply our proven technology, develop projects across a broader range of locations and deliver more low-carbon fuel alongside our growing eSAF business. Aviation needs multiple scalable pathways, and Infinium is positioned to continue to deliver options.”

1 technology, 2 feedstock pathways

Infinium has more than a decade of experience converting gases into liquid hydrocarbons with its synthesis technology deployed across commercial installations.

Synthesize™—Infinium’s proprietary advanced Fischer–Tropsch catalyst and reactor design for converting syngas into liquid hydrocarbons—is also used to produce Infinium eFuels today.

The two product lines share core synthesis technology, catalyst manufacturing, product specifications and certification pathways.

Electrified reforming improves yield, carbon performance

Infinium’s mSAF platform also utilizes its proprietary Reform™ package—a proprietary electric-steam methane reformer (eSMR) designed to produce syngas with a lower carbon footprint than a traditional gas-fired SMR.

Infinium is deploying what it says is the world’s largest eSMR at Project Roadrunner, for conversion of methane into syngas.

Conventional-steam methane reforming burns a portion of the feed gas to produce process heat.

This adds combustion emissions to the fuel’s lifecycle footprint and consumes feedstock carbon that could otherwise be converted into the finished product.

Infinium’s Reform™ technology uses renewable electricity to provide that process heat.

This keeps more feedstock carbon available for conversion, increasing fuel yield per unit of gas, while avoiding the reforming-related combustion emissions associated with conventional systems.

For renewable natural gas (RNG) projects, where feedstock cost and carbon intensity are central to commercial performance, greater yield and lower reforming emissions directly improve project economics, according to Infinium.

Carbon intensity verified project by project

Infinium worked with RMI, an independent energy and climate-research organization with expertise in methane emissions, low-carbon fuels, aviation and industrial decarbonization, on an assessment of the growing mSAF market opportunity.

“Biogas and renewable natural gas are emerging as important areas of inquiry for hard-to-abate sectors, including low-carbon fuels and industrial value chains,” said Bryan Fisher, the managing director at RMI. “These pathways may offer meaningful climate and commercial value, but only if they are supported by rigorous lifecycle accounting, auditable chain-of-custody systems and credible certification frameworks. RMI was pleased to support Infinium’s strategic assessment of this evolving landscape to better understand challenges and opportunities for meaningful climate benefit.”

The mSAF designation does not imply a single carbon-intensity value across all projects.

Lifecycle emissions will depend on the methane source, leakage rate, production-energy mix and chain of custody on individual assets.

Infinium will calculate and independently certify carbon intensity at the project level under applicable regulatory- and voluntary-certification frameworks.

By adding mSAF to its eFuels platform, Infinium said it is expanding the range of feedstocks and locations available for low-carbon fuel production while continuing to advance its CO2-based eSAF business.