Circularity Fuels converts dairy farm waste into SAF

California-based Circularity Fuels announced successful conversion of biogas from a California Central Valley dairy farm into synthesis gas (syngas), a key precursor to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), using a compact electric processing unit.

Circularity announced that its proprietary, electric-powered Ouro Reactor successfully processed raw biogas from a working dairy farm’s covered lagoon digester, converting methane and CO2 that would typically be flared or vented into valuable fuel components.

Unlike traditional gas-fired reformers that cost millions and require massive infrastructure, the Ouro Reactor uses modified automotive-industry components to achieve the same result at a fraction of the size and cost.

“Farmers in the U.S. and around the world are sitting on an untapped goldmine,” said Dr. Stephen Beaton, CEO and founder of Circularity Fuels. “We’re giving them the ability to turn waste into a profitable product that airlines desperately need.”

The company said that their demonstration – the first to electrically reform farm raw biogas from a lagoon digester into a jet-fuel precursor without combustion – validates several critical innovations.

Circularity’s Ouro Reactor operates on standard electrical connections, uses industrially proven catalysts and processes raw biogas without expensive pre-treatment. Importantly, it maintains stable operation despite the contaminants typically found in agricultural biogas that would damage conventional reformers.

“For the first time, farmers will become renewable fuel producers without waiting for pipeline infrastructure that will never come,” Dr. Beaton said. “The liquid fuel can be trucked out using existing transportation networks, making energy production as straightforward as any other farm output.”

If deployed across all viable U.S. waste sites – including farms, landfills, and wastewater treatment plants – biogas-to-SAF technology could produce 42 million gallons per day, meeting 70% of the nation’s jet fuel demand.