EFT signs agreement with Highbury Energy for WBCE SAF site

US-based Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis and renewable fuel innovation and technology company Emerging Fuels Technology (EFT) announced it has signed a master license agreement with UK-based Highbury Energy and a site license with Wanagekong-Biiwega’iganan Clean Energy (WBCE) to develop a site in Ontario, Canada.

The Ontario site, being developed by WBCE, will use EFT’s Fischer-Tropsch technology along with Highbury Energy gasification technology to process wood waste from local mills and produce 20m liters of renewable fuels, including renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

“Transportation companies, railways, airlines, and heavy truck operators are increasingly seeking low-carbon fuel sources to meet stricter emissions regulations, and this demand can benefit WBCE Corp. and the First Nation communities,” said WBCE Corp president and Mitaanjigamiing First Nation Chief Janice Henderson.

The project milestones for the Ontario site includes process design package (PDP), which is currently underway, with completion expected in early 2025 while the front-end engineering design (FEED) is expected to follow a financial investment decision (FID) by mid-2025.

The project developers are also exploring federal government support including securing funding from Natural Resources Canada for the bulk of the FEED study.

“It is a chance for First Nations to do something good for our forests, it’s our chance to do something good for the environment, and it’s our chance to be rewarded for doing good things,” said WBCE board member chief Wayne Smith of the Naicatchewenin First Nation.

“I see ‘our time’ as the time of an energy revolution — when we turn away from fuels that damage the environment and put life at risk and adopt fuels that are better for all living things.”