UOP Begins Construction of Biofuels Demonstration Unit in Hawaii

UOP, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Honeywell International, has commenced the construction of a biofuels demonstration unit in Hawaii to convert biomass into green transportation fuels. The unit is anticipated to commence operation by 2014.

UOP has received a $25 million funding from the U.S. Department of Energy for the renewable energy project. The company’s Integrated Biorefinery located in Kapolei will convert algae, forest residuals and other cellulosic biomass into renewable jet fuel, diesel and gasoline. The project will decrease the US dependence on foreign oil and in addition, it will support the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative to achieve 70% clean energy by 2030. The clean energy initiative will also decrease UOP’s dependence on fossil fuels and enhance the company’s environmental footprint.

The Hawaii unit will use the RTP thermal processing technology for rapid conversion of biomass into liquid biofuel. The liquid biofuel will later be processed to green transportation fuels with the use of UOP’s hydroprocessing technology. When the UOP’s process technology is successfully proven in the demonstration unit, a commercial facility employing the same technology can produce over 50 M gal of green transportation fuels annually. The Integrated Biorefinery will assess the environmental value of the biofuels and the process technology, test the fuels and assess the feasibility of the technology.