en.Wedoany.com Reported - Axens (headquartered in Rueil-Malmaison, France) has announced the launch of the ERA project (Ethanol to Refuel Aviation), France's first industrial-scale Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) production unit based on advanced bioethanol. The facility is planned with an annual capacity of 50,000 tonnes, using advanced ethanol sourced from European feedstocks. A site in France is currently being selected, with production expected to commence in 2030.
The ERA project further strengthens Axens' industrial commitment to the low-carbon transportation transition, alongside the NACRE project (advanced bioethanol production facility in the Lacq region), which has already received construction permits, and the recently submitted MACARON project (battery materials production facility in Valenciennes), for which a construction permit application has been filed.
The growing demand for Sustainable Aviation Fuel in the aviation sector requires production to extend beyond the current HEFA pathway based on used cooking oil and animal fats. The ERA project will meet this need by developing new SAF sources derived from biomass residues, a crucial step in enhancing the energy sovereignty of French and European air transport. The project is currently in the engineering phase, executed by the dedicated project company SAFIRIS, with the goal of starting production in 2030.
The project will utilize Jetanol® technology, co-developed by Axens and IFP Energies nouvelles (IFPEN), which has been validated in several petrochemical applications and optimized to maximize SAF yield. The JETANOL® process is based on three integrated steps—dehydration, oligomerization, and hydrogenation—converting bioethanol into Sustainable Aviation Fuel and bio-naphtha. Due to its high yield and technological maturity, this technology has been selected by several major international projects seeking to implement the Alcohol-to-Jet (AtJ) pathway.
France set SAF blending targets as early as 2020, and Europe subsequently strengthened and expanded these requirements through the ReFuelEU Aviation regulation, mandating that flights departing from France blend over 1 million tonnes of SAF annually by 2035. This target presents a significant opportunity to develop a French and European SAF production value chain based on local resources and technologies, complementing existing SAF production from used cooking oil and animal fats, as well as future e-SAF production.
Axens is currently evaluating several potential sites in France and will finalize industrial and financial partnerships within the Safiris company. In collaboration with IFPEN, Axens possesses a broad portfolio of SAF production technologies, covering HEFA (oils and fats), advanced biofuels (ethanol and lignocellulosic biomass), e-SAF (hydrogen + CO₂), and a methanol-based pathway newly added through the acquisition of Air Liquide's methanol-to-olefins technology.
