FORGE’s patented Lipid-to-Hydrocarbon (LTH) technology creates renewable jet fuel, diesel and naphtha from waste fats and oils. According to the company, FORGE’s renewable diesel and jet fuels are greater than 90 percent less carbon intensive than fossil-based diesel. They are cheaper to produce than conventional renewable diesel and are ‘drop-in’ ready, which means they require no specialized blending infrastructure.
“We know that oil under the earth’s crust was created from lipids without expensive catalysts and hydrogen. FORGE mimics nature’s processes, except that we do it in hours not millions of years,” said Tim Haig, founder & CEO, FORGE Hydrocarbons.
It is widely recognized that the global transport sector accounts for nearly 30 percent of the world’s energy use and around a quarter of global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions. Different fuels and types of vehicles will be needed to meet the ever-growing demand for transport, while reducing emissions. To continue supplying customers with the fuels they will need in the future, biofuels can play a valuable role in reducing carbon dioxide emissions from the transport sector over the decades ahead.
FORGE is initially targeting the over four-billion-gallon mandated market in North America for renewable diesel and jet-fuels market. FORGE will tap into abundant, low-cost and often untapped lipid feedstocks.
The technology was invented by Dr. David Bressler at the University of Alberta. It was licensed through TEC Edmonton to FORGE which was founded by biofuels entrepreneur Tim Haig, also founder of BIOX, Canada’s first commercial renewable diesel company, now a part of World Energy.
The capacity of the Sombra production plant is 7.5 million gallons of renewable fuels annually. The project will create an estimated 150 construction and engineering jobs during the build phase and more than 45 full-time jobs for the commercial operation of the facility.
“Biofuels are critical in the move to lower-carbon marine, aviation and heavy-duty transport. Collaboration will be key to a successful energy transition and Shell’s investment in FORGE to progress this commercial-scale project can help accelerate this technology,” said Andrew Murfin, general manager, Advanced Biofuels at Shell
Shell Ventures joins FORGE’s funders and collaborators including World Energy, Lockheed Martin, Valent Low-Carbon Technologies and Sustainable Development Technology Canada.
