San Diego (April 24, 2024) — Oberon Fuels, a renewable fuels producer, and Sunvapor, a renewable heat provider, commissioned a solar steam project under the first purchase agreement in the United States for industrial solar steam. This agreement will eliminate upfront capital requirements to deploy solar steam, while enabling Oberon to as much as double output capacity and slash the carbon intensity of renewable fuels — critical for industrial customers seeking renewable fuels to achieve pressing net-zero commitments.
"This project is a triple-win for Oberon," said Elliot Anise-Hicks, Oberon Fuels co-founder and chief technical officer. "Working with Sunvapor, we can further slash the carbon intensity of our fuels while doubling our throughput, all with no capital expenses. Innovative partnerships like this are essential to help us scale to meet the soaring appetite for low-carbon fuels like renewable propane and methanol across major industries."
Under the partnership, Sunvapor integrated solar steam technology into Oberon's Maverick Innovation Center in Brawley, California, to produce renewable dimethyl ether (rDME), which can reduce the carbon intensity of propane when blended. As designed, a notable portion of the fuel produced by Oberon's process can go into providing steam to power the facility itself. By using solar to generate process heat instead, Oberon can convert all of the renewable carbon in feedstock into fuel, in turn increasing output by as much as double. Moreover, using zero-carbon solar steam can improve Oberon's already low carbon intensity by removing as much as 90% of the carbon used for process energy in large-scale deployments.
"We've designed our technology and first-of-its-kind financing in the USA to eliminate the risk of adopting solar steam and provide compelling economics to our customers," said Philip Gleckman, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of Sunvapor. "With bountiful sunshine, low land costs, a need for process heat and a commitment to decarbonization, Oberon is an ideal partner to begin scaling our solutions for the massive industrial process heat market."
Oberon's rDME fuel can reduce the carbon intensity of propane by up to 60% when blended, offering potential reductions in global CO2 of 750 million metric tons per year. By 2050, renewable DME and propane could meet half the world's demand for propane, according to the World Liquid Gas Association. Additionally, Oberon's technology can produce renewable methanol to serve as a clean fuel for the maritime industry, which makes up roughly 3% of global carbon emissions. According to the Methanol Institute, green methanol can reduce carbon dioxide emissions from container ships up to 95% compared with conventional fuels.
