Japan’s Idemitsu to trial Pongamia for SAF in Australia
Japanese refiner Idemitsu Kosan announced it will launch a trial plantation of non-edible oilseed tree crop Pongamia in Queensland, Australia from this January to evaluate its suitability as a potential feedstock for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) using HEFA technology.
The trial plantation will be conducted in collaboration with California-based Terviva and Australia-based Stanmore Resources.
The trial announcement comes months after Idemitsu’s announced plans to develop $368m SAF plant in north-eastern coastal city of Townsville, Australia. The facility, backed by a consortium of partners including Jet Zero Australia, LanzaJet, Qantas, Airbus, and Idemitsu Kosan, is expected to produce approximately 110m litres of low carbon liquid fuels (LCLFs) including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) annually.
Idemitsu announced that it has also invested in Terviva.
The trial will verify long-term cultivation methods for Pongamia, as well as the optimisation of the entire supply chain from cultivation to oil extraction and SAF production.
Additionally, Idemitsu Kosan will explore the creation of carbon credits from Pongamia trees through afforestation, the production of pellets from Pongamia shells for biomass power plants, and the use of pressed Pongamia oilseed cake as livestock feed, among other uses beyond feedstock for SAF.
Pongamia, distributed in Southeast Asia and Oceania, is non-edible oilseed tree crop that does not compete with food crops. The oil extracted from Pongamia oilseeds through pressing is expected to be usable as a feedstock for SAF production using HEFA technology.
However, because Pongamia has historically not been domesticated as a crop, the know-how for producing and cultivating superior Pongamia varieties is key to achieving consistent high yields of crude oil.
The Japanese refiner is planning to to establish a supply system for 500,000 kL of SAF annually, of which nearly 250,000 kL will be produced at its Tokuyama Complex from FY2028 using HEFA technology.
With Pangomia, Idemitsu said it is working to secure feedstock that can be supplied stably over the long term especially considering the potential future supply and demand tightness and price fluctuations of various other feedstock.