Rentech Inc.’s new fuels business is taking off – literally. On April 30, United Airlines used Rentech’s certified synthetic jet fuel (RenJet®) in the first flight of a U.S. commercial airline using synthetic jet fuel in flight. The flight was conducted using a 40/60 mix of Rentech’s synthetic jet fuel with conventional Jet A fuel in one of two engines on an Airbus 319 aircraft.
The aircraft departed Denver International Airport and climbed to an altitude of 39,000 feet, while the onboard team collected data on the performance of the fuel during several maneuvers, including taxi, takeoff, climb, cruise, auxiliary power unit start, descent, and approach. The synthetic jet fuel, derived from natural gas and converted to liquid fuel through the Rentech Fischer Tropsch process, is approved by the ASTM International and is safe for use on passenger flights.
In December 2009, United, along with 12 other domestic and international passenger and cargo carriers, signed a Memorandum of Understanding that is intended to serve as a framework for a future definitive supply agreement for approximately 250 million gallons per year of certified synthetic jet fuel from Rentech’s proposed synthetic fuels and power facility in Adams County, Mississippi (Natchez Project).
In August 2009, United was among eight airlines who signed an unprecedented multi-year agreement with Rentech for up to 1.5 million gallons per year of renewable synthetic diesel (RenDiesel(R)) for ground service equipment operations at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) beginning in late 2012, when Rentech’s Rialto Renewable Energy Center is scheduled to go into service.
Earlier this year, Rentech and ClearFuels Technology jointly received a $22.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to construct a biomass gasifier at Rentech’s Energy Technology Center in Denver. The gasifier will be integrated with Rentech’s Product Demonstration Unit for the production of renewable synthetic fuels from biomass in late 2011.
Cash flow from Rentech’s nitrogen subsidiary, Rentech Energy Midwest Corp. (REMC), which has a plant in East Dubuque, Ill., has been funding the development of Rentech’s new technologies.