Fuelling up Unpacking renewable liquid fuels

It’s not every day a White House virtual roundtable has close ties to a Suncor initiative, but sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) was the topic of the hour, and we have been deeply involved in the conversation since our investments in LanzaTech Inc. and LanzaJet took flight. 

The renewable liquid fuels space is continuously growing, and the conversations are becoming more frequent. Our strategy charts a path to contribute to a net-zero world by expanding our low-emissions businesses like renewable fuels. 

We sat down with members of Suncor’s Renewable Fuels team, Marianna Trujillo Vaccari Project Lead, Renewable Fuels, and Mario Ochoa, Director, Renewable Fuels, to help us understand more about renewable liquid fuels and why we are growing this area of our business.

We’ve been in the renewables business since 2006, when our St. Clair Ethanol Plant in Sarnia began production. Since then, we have continued to research lower-carbon-intensity ethanol and are advancing a portfolio of projects with universities and companies aimed at producing advanced renewable fuels through investments in Enerkem, LanzaTech and LanzaJet, making us well-positioned to be a low-emissions energy company. 

“By making renewable fuels, we are not generating new GHG gases to the atmosphere, we are just reusing what has already been in the atmosphere,” says Mario. “We blend that renewable fuel production with our conventional production to reduce our overall emissions of our products.” 

Building on the strength of our base business, Suncor is in the perfect position to expand on our low-carbon energy sources, giving us the ideal opportunity to contribute in the net-zero space. 

“We are leveraging our expertise to deploy new technologies that can contribute to our energy expansion and providing cleaner energy options for our consumers,” says Marianna. “We are collaborating with universities, technology developers, innovators, to develop a portfolio of projects.”

It takes a lot of effort and a big team to produce the energy that keeps the world running. As the demand for renewable liquid fuels grow, we will continue to invest in and implement new technologies to offer our customers low emission solutions.