Ancient Pongamia Tree Breathes New Life Into Sustainable Aviation Fuel

Join daily news updates from CleanTechnica on electronic mail. Or follow us on Google News!

Biofuel stakeholders are angling for a bit of the sustainable aviation gas market, and the pongamia tree might maintain the important thing to a extra significant use of the phrase “sustainable.” A hardy historical species native to India, pongamia is an oil-producing species that has the potential to keep away from the worst excesses of typical biofuel crops, and it could actually additionally present a brand new supply of human and animal feed.

The Pongamia Tree And Sustainable Agriculture

When it comes to sustainability, the biofuel discipline has proved to be a blended bag. Clearing forests and different various habitats to ascertain a monoculture power crop will not be a very sustainable mannequin, particularly not when substantial help from pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers is concerned.

The pongamia tree is among the many next-generation power crops to supply a extra sustainable mannequin. It first crossed the CleanTechnica radar again in 2012 beneath the identify pongam, after we took word of the California startup Terviva. The corporate was focusing in on replanting “abused” pineapple plantations with pongamia, the place the tree’s nitrogen-fixing expertise may go to work replenishing vitamins within the soil. The corporate was additionally exploring states like Texas and Florida, the place citrus groves are withering beneath an onslaught of illness and local weather impacts.

“That underscores the potential for biofuel crops to play a role in soil restoration projects on lands that are no longer fit to grow food, rather than competing for land with food crops,” CleanTechnica noticed.

To gild the sustainability lily, pongam blossoms are additionally recognized to draw honeybees. The pest-resistant tree can thrive with out the surplus of chemical inputs that characterize fashionable agriculture, making it an amenable host for different non-destructive bugs as effectively.

A Quicker Path To Sustainable Air Journey

In fact, biofuels usually are not the one technique to free the aviation gas provide chain from fossil fuels. One may take a bus or a prepare, for instance, or conduct enterprise remotely. Nonetheless, various transportation can solely exchange a portion of air journey. The aviation trade must decarbonize itself, and the going has been achingly sluggish.

Battery-electric and fuel cell electric aircraft are a long run answer that has barely begun to emerge on the small finish of the aviation scale. For bigger plane, a sustainable drop-in alternative for liquid gas presents a extra speedy answer that leverages current plane know-how and gas infrastructure, too.

That brings us again round to Terviva. The corporate has been very busy over the previous 13 years, growing pongam derivatives into oil, flour, proteins, and different merchandise other than plane gas. One other key space of focus is the event of excessive yield, cold-tolerant strains of pongamia to allow widespread cultivation. Terviva emphasizes that it goals to keep up compatibility with the rules of low influence, regenerative agriculture whereas additionally maximizing yield.

Within the newest information, Terviva has joined forces with the energy-diverse Japanese agency Idemitsu Kosan and the Australian coal firm Stanmore to trial a plantation of pongamia in Queensland.

“This collaboration leverages Terviva’s scalable tree production and Idemitsu’s expertise in fuels to accelerate the global production of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) with oil from Terviva’s proprietary pongamia technology,” Terviva defined in an unreleased press assertion emailed CleanTechnica earlier this week (Idemitsu has already launched the information to Japanese audiences and it’s scheduled for broad launch on January 14).

The goal of the undertaking is to evaluate how effectively pongamia bushes can develop in a “non-typical cropping area.” Along with yielding bio-based oil for sustainable aviation gas, the payoff is anticipated to incorporate carbon credit for afforestation, which means the creation of a brand new forest the place none beforehand existed, a minimum of not in recent times. The companions additionally anticipate to discover utilizing pongamia seed shells for biomass energy crops, in addition to pulp and different byproducts for animal feed, amongst different potential makes use of.

The Lengthy Street To Sustainable Aviation Gasoline Is By means of Fairness And Accountability

Sustainable aviation gas is starting to interrupt into the mainstream, and Idemitsu goals to experience the wave with an help from pongamia. The corporate has set an preliminary objective for SAF manufacturing at its Tokuyama Complicated someday in fiscal 12 months 2028 and it has tapped pongamia to function in its bio-based provide chain.

“Pongamia’s ability as a high yielding oilseed crop is considered promising as a measure to secure raw materials for the long-term stable and economical production of SAF using HEFA technology,” Idemitsu explains, referring to the corporate’s “Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids” know-how for changing fat and oils to sustainable aviation fuels.

Along with the Idemitsu hookup, Terviva additionally introduced an investor partnership with Mitsubishi Company in December of 2023. In that announcement, Terviva centered consideration to the potential for drawing social fairness and native advantages into the sustainable aviation gas provide chain.

“Terviva seeks to create transparent and equitable supply chains of pongamia trees in subtropical regions of the world, using reforestation, agroforestry and orchard models,” Terviva defined.

“The oil is ISCC Plus & EU Certified and the wild harvest supply chain and crush production meet RED II and global sustainability criteria,” the corporate added, referring to the up to date renewable power directive adopted by the European Union.

When it comes to competing power crops, Terviva notes {that a} pongamia is a no-till crop that may doubtlessly yield the identical quantity of oil from one acre as produced by US soybeans on 4 acres. The corporate additionally calculates that the carbon depth of its biofuel is just like that of used cooking oil.

Final 12 months Terviva additionally nailed down an settlement with Chevron Renewable Vitality Group. “The new arrangement signals Terviva’s strategic growth and global scalability as well as the advancement of pongamia as a lower carbon resource for biofuels production,” Terviva defined in a press assertion dated October 15 of 2024. The corporate additionally famous that it at present has 2,000 acres under cultivation within the US and Australia.

Right here within the US, particularly, pongamia may provide beleaguered citrus farmers a chance to change gears. In a protracted type piece final summer time, Related Press reporter Freida Frisaro famous that Terviva’s hardy Pongamia trees are starting to repopulate derelict citrus orchards in Florida and different “citrus belt” states, the place the citrus trade has been bedeviled by the unfold of ailments like citrus canker and citrus greening in addition to the rising influence of weather-related injury, the 1989 freeze and the 2022 storm Hurricane Ian being two examples.

This week one other extreme bout of climate is hitting Florida and different components of the US south within the type of a deep freeze, so maintain on to your hats…

Observe me through LinkTreeor @tinamcasey on LinkedIn and Bluesky.

Picture (cropped): The hardy, bean-producing pongamia tree is carving out a distinct segment within the sustainable aviation gas trade, with the potential for producing human meals and animal feed as effectively (courtesy of Idimetsu Kosan Co., Ltd.).