Sustainability In The Air

How HIF Global’s synthetic fuels and waste-based pathways could change SAF economics

SimpliFlying Episode 159

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0:00 | 37:54

In this episode, Dirk Singer speaks with Meg Gentle, Executive Director at HIF Global, about how synthetic fuels and waste-based pathways could reshape the economics of sustainable aviation fuel.

Gentle discusses:

  • Why Chile’s exceptional wind resources made it the starting point for HIF’s first e-fuels facility, and how that model is now being replicated globally
  • How e-fuels are produced by combining green hydrogen with captured CO2 to create transportable liquid fuels like methanol and jet fuel
  • Why HIF Global is pursuing two SAF pathways in parallel: e-methanol-to-jet for Europe and RNG-based SAF for the US
  • How waste-based fuels, particularly those derived from methane emissions, can achieve very low or even negative carbon intensity
  • Why the real bottleneck to scaling SAF is not technology or capital, but long-term policy certainty and “early mover protection”
  • How SAF markets could evolve toward a carbon intensity-based pricing model, where fuels compete on dollars per tonne of CO2 abated rather than feedstock or pathway

If you LOVED this episode, you’ll also love the conversation we had with James Hygate, CEO of Firefly Green Fuels, who discusses the company’s novel approach that turns sewage into jet fuel. Check it out here

Learn more about the innovators who are navigating the industry’s challenges to make sustainable aviation a reality, in our new book ‘Sustainability in the Air: Volume 2’. Click here to learn more.

Feel free to reach out via email to podcast@simpliflying.com. For more content on sustainable aviation, visit our website green.simpliflying.com and join the movement. It’s about time.

Links & More:

HIF Global

HIF Haru Oni: The first operating e-Fuels facility in the world - HIF Global  

HIF Global and eFuel One ink deal for gigawatt-scale green hydrogen and methanol project in Uruguay - Fuel Cells Works 

HIF Global to provide green hydrogen-based fuels for tourists in southern Chile and Antarctica this summer - Hydrogen Insight