Fulcrum Sierra, Reno, Nevada USA

Project: Fulcrum Sierra, Reno, Nevada USA
Feedstock: Solid municipal waste
Process: Fischer- Tropsch
Location: Reno, Nevada
Production start: May 2022
2023 Production: 11m gallons a year

Fulcrum Sierra is the world’s first commercial scale waste-to-fuels Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) plant. It  started initial operations in May 2022. In December 2022 it produced the first ever synthetic crude oil from landfill. 

Next to one of the largest landfill sites in the US, a key part of the project is the Feedstock Processing Facility (FPF). Inorganic and other un-processable materials are removed here before the feedstock is moved to the biorefinery. Fulcrum uses Fischer-Tropsch processes to change the feedstock to syncrude. This is then transported to a Marathon Petroleum refinery to be made into Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and other transportation fuels.

Eric Pryor, Fulcrum’s President and Chief Executive Officer, in May 2022:

“This operations achievement at our Sierra plant is a real breakthrough step in making waste to fuels a reality. This is a tremendous moment for our company and a major milestone for our construction management, operations and engineering teams who have worked tirelessly to integrate more than 30 different plant systems in Fulcrum’s unique and patented process. Fulcrum is launching an entirely new source of low-cost, domestically produced, net-zero carbon transportation fuel, which will contribute to the aviation industry’s carbon reduction goals, U.S. energy security and address climate stability.”

“Fulcrum’s process will produce a fuel that is a cost-competitive sustainable aviation fuel and an alternative to petroleum-based fuel. With a net-zero carbon score and the ability to be produced in large volumes, our sustainable aviation fuel will have an impact on addressing climate change. We are eager to get this fuel into the market and into the hands of our airline partners.”