In the United States (US) Oberon Fuels, Inc., a producer of low carbon, renewable dimethyl ether (rDME) transportation fuel, has announced that it has begun commercial production of the first-ever renewable DME (rDME) in the country."This is a critical step on the path to decarbonizing the transportation sector, said Elliot Hicks, Chief Operating and Technology Officer, and an Oberon Fuels co-founder.
Ett fel inträffade
På dinprofilsidaser du vilka av våra produkter som du har tillgång till och mer information.
Skulle uppgifterna inte stämma på din profilsida – vänligenkontakta vår support.
Var vänlig ladda om sidan
Vill du läsa hela artikeln?
- Six editions per year
- Full access to all digital content
- The E-magazine Bioenergy international
- And more ...
As part of a US$6 million project funded in part by a grantfrom the California Energy Commission (CEC), Oberon Fuels is converting waste methanol into renewable dimethyl ether (rDME) at its recently upgraded facility in Brawley, California (CA). According to the company, it is the first time this feedstock has been used to make rDME at a commercial scale.
In addition to waste methanol, other potential feedstocks include biogas from dairy waste, food wastes, agricultural waste, as well as excess electricity and carbon dioxide (CO2), resulting in ultra-low carbon to carbon-negative DME.
This is a critical step on the path to decarbonizing the transportation sector. Our innovative approach uses waste resources to create a flexible molecule that can reduce emissions from fossil fuels, as well as create entirely new, super-clean fuels, said Elliot Hicks, Chief Operating and Technology Officer, and an Oberon Fuels co-founder.
Versatile molecule
DME is a hydrogen-rich molecule that handles just like propane or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). It can be produced at or near renewable feedstock sources using Oberon’s modular production technology. This novel approach to renewable hydrogen production promises similarities to the influence that distributed, rooftop solar has had on decentralizing industrial power generation.
Because rDME’s properties allow it to cost-effectively store and transport renewable hydrogen, this milestone unlocks Oberon’s ability to reduce emissions from transportation today, while accelerating the development of the hydrogen economy and a net-zero carbon future.
Renewable DME has multiple pathways to reducing the carbon footprint of the transportation sector: as a diesel replacement, as a blend with propane, and as an energy-dense, cost-effective way to move renewable hydrogen. rDME can help overcome some of the biggest barriers inhibiting the widespread use of hydrogen for transportation fuel, including access to renewable feedstocks; modular, scalable production; and energy-dense, cost-effective storage, and transport.
By achieving this important milestone, we can turn our focus to getting rDME in the hands of customers to reduce the carbon intensity of propane and diesel fuels. More importantly, we will be able to leapfrog today’s energy-intense, fossil-driven approaches, to renewable hydrogen production from a variety of wastes and other renewable sources to further deliver on our mission of decarbonizing transportation, said Bipin Patel, VP of Engineering at Oberon Fuels.
Moreover, because rDME is compatible with LPG, it requires minimal modifications to the existing global LPG distribution network and workforce, which have been safely handling and transporting similar molecules for more than a century. Once delivered, rDME can be converted to renewable hydrogen at the point of use.
As one of the longest-standing propane companies in the United States, Suburban Propane is committed to offering our time-honored network, expertise, and infrastructure to support Oberon Fuels in leading the way towards the future of our industry. Oberon’s production of renewable DME is not only a milestone for the company, it is also a breakthrough for the global LPG industry as we seek new approaches to meet increasing customer and regulatory demands for cleaner fuels, said Michael Stivala, President and CEO of Suburban Propane Partners.
Suburban Propane Partners is a nationwide distributor of propane, fuel oil, and related products and services, and itacquired a 39 percent equity stakein Oberon Fuels in 2020.
Propane is already known for its versatile, cost-effective, and clean-burning attributes. Given the compatibility of these two molecules, we can immediately offer an even cleaner alternative for the transportation sector and beyond. Additionally, the fact that we can use today’s propane infrastructure to move such a hydrogen-rich molecule that can become the hydrogen fuel of the future is both exciting and critical to our efforts to be innovative in achieving the goals of lowering carbon emissions, said Michael Stivala.
The rDME breakthrough has gotten the attention of key government officials in California.
The spirit of innovation and perseverance is strong in the Imperial Valley. Oberon and our community partners, including Imperial County Workforce and Economic Development, the Imperial Valley Economic Development Corporation, the operations team at the plant, and the local workers who labored on the upgrade, have shown us what is possible when we work together. We celebrate the completion of this milestone and look forward to the utilization of renewable DME towards achieving our emission reduction goals and the role our region can play in powering vehicles across the state, remarked Assembly Member Eduardo Garcia (D-AD 56), a member of the California Air Resources Board (CARB).
