Shell mulls making renewable jet fuel at new Swedish facility

Royal Dutch Shell Plc is looking into developing a production site next to a Swedish nuclear power plant to make synthetic sustainable jet fuel for Scandinavian airline SAS AB. 

Together with plant operator Vattenfall AB and synthetic fuel maker LanzaTech Inc., the companies agreed to investigate starting a facility that could provide SAS with a quarter of its demand for sustainable aviation fuel by the 2030s.

Aviation has so far proved trickier to decarbonize than other methods of transport, though Shell is already working on several sustainable jet fuel projects. The energy giant is shrinking its portfolio of traditional refineries in favor of lower-carbon fuels as consumers and investors demand greater action on climate change.

The potential site near the Forsmark nuclear power plant would mix hydrogen with recycled carbon dioxide to make ethanol, according to a statement on Wednesday. Using technology developed by LanzaTech, the ethanol would then be processed into a synthetic jet fuel, also know as electrofuel.

“Sustainable aviation fuel offers the greatest potential to reduce emissions from aviation,” Shell Aviation President Anna Mascolo said in the statement.”

Vattenfall will investigate if it can provide the site with fossil-free electricity, hydrogen production and carbon dioxide recovery. The aim is to commission the new production facility between 2026 and 2027, with the site able to produce up to 50,000 tons of synthetic jet fuel a year.