Petron, SBI to license biomass to green hydrogen technologies

Petron Scientech Inc. (PSI) and SBI Bioenergy Inc. (SBI) have entered into an alliance agreement to license differentiated, integrated, energy-efficient, and sustainable technologies for biomass to green hydrogen and low carbon biofuels production. 

Under their agreement, the alliance will utilize Petron’s proprietary cellulosic ethanol (G2.0E) technology from a variety of locally available agriculture/forestry residuals  (wastes) and woody biomass, integrated with the production of green hydrogen using SBI’s proprietary, energy efficient technology, Gölu-H₂, for commercial production of low-carbon, high -purity hydrogen to decarbonize transportation, electricity generation, industrial/residential  heating, and industrial Hydrogen applications. This hydrogen is suitable for fueling fuel cell electric vehicles (EVs) including buses, trucks, and trains, decentralizing power generation using fuel  cells, commercial power generation by blending with natural gas (NG), production of renewable  low carbon sustainable fuel (LCSF), and for production of green ammonia/urea and other  valuable products. 

The alliance will also utilize Petron’s process engineering and scale up expertise with SBI’s technologies for waste-free production of low-carbon fatty acid ethyl ester (FAEE) and  hydrogen-free production of carbon-negative renewable diesel. FAEE has lower carbon  intensity, better solubility in petroleum diesel and more favorable cold flow properties compared  to conventional fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) which requires the use of fossil fuel derived methanol with its high carbon intensity. 

Cellulosic ethanol technology

PSI has pioneered the use of low carbon ethanol to produce low carbon renewable downstream technologies. PSI’s cellulosic ethanol technology was originally developed in the U.S.A. by DuPont, in  cooperation with the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). PSI  has all associated intellectual property and patents to produce G2.0E, including process design  and the proprietary zymomonas ethanologens for efficient conversion of C5/C6 sugars made  from cellulosic biomass to G2.0E. 

Globally over 70 million metric tons (MMT) of hydrogen are consumed annually, over 95% of  which is generated using fossil natural gas (NG) with its high carbon footprint. NG hydrogen  negatively impacts the environment by introducing over 830MMT new GHG emissions per year.  Green hydrogen is an alternative fuel in great demand worldwide and is capable of significant  GHG reductions for combating the climate change crisis. 

Together, PSI and SBI’s technologies are an efficient and integrated solution for the conversion of  local agriculture biomass and forestry wood residuals/wastes into green hydrogen and low  carbon biofuels worldwide. The CO₂ produced from the G2.0E Ethanol and Gölu-H₂ Hydrogen processes will be Carbon Captured & Sequestered (CCS), upgraded for beverage/food  applications, used for industrial products, and/or enhanced oil recovery applications. While the  combination of PSI and SBI’s technologies inherently result in net negative carbon products, CCS  integration will provide further carbon reduction.  

“We are excited to announce the alliance agreement with SBI for these differentiated Biomass  and Ethanol value chain technologies. Our collaboration will benefit clients globally and allow  them to set new standards for meeting corporate ESG ambitions. Along with SBI, we intend to  continue set up these biorefinery and hydrogen projects in the Americas, UK, EU, Africa, and  Asia,” said Yogi Sarin, PSI founder and CEO. 

“We are proud to work with PSI, whose commercial experience and leadership will help to jointly  commercialize large projects with PSI’s G2.0 E technology along with SBI’s low carbon biofuels  and Golu-H₂ process, resulting in carbon-negative hydrogen and Biofuels production on a global  scale and enable transportation and industrial sectors to meet their GHG reduction commitments. Compared to electrolysis and NG derived hydrogen, the Gölu-H₂ process is more energy efficient  and economical,” said Dr. Inder Pal Singh, SBI CEO and founding president.