Comstock has announced a strategic partnership between its subsidiary, Comstock IP Holdings LLC, and Oklahoma-based Emerging Fuels Technology, Inc. (EFT) to significantly enhance the production of renewable fuels like sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The collaboration, formalized through a Technology Cooperation Agreement (TCA), aims to integrate EFT’s gas-to-liquids (GTL) process into Comstock’s existing renewable fuel solutions, creating a more efficient and sustainable system.

The core of the partnership lies in combining Comstock’s advanced lignocellulosic biomass refining process with EFT’s expertise in GTL technology. Comstock’s current process, which utilizes solvolytic digestion, bioconversion, and esterification, already achieves impressive yields of up to 125 gallons of renewable fuel per dry ton of feedstock.

By integrating EFT’s GTL process, the system will capture and convert process emissions into “emissions derived renewable fuels” (EDF), further increasing yields to over 140 gallons per dry ton and approaching 70% of the theoretical maximum yield from woody biomass. This represents a significant step towards maximizing resource utilization and minimizing waste.

The companies are focusing on a phased approach to technology integration, utilizing the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) scale. Comstock’s existing processes leverage TRL 9 components in innovative ways, validated at TRL 6. The company is actively working towards TRL 7 with its recently announced 75,000-ton-per-year demonstration facility, and subsequently to TRL 8 in planned 1 million-ton-per-year commercial facilities. The partnership with EFT will focus on scaling up the EFT process from TRL 7 in a demonstration facility to TRL 8 in commercial facilities.

David Winsness, president of Comstock Fuels, emphasized the long-standing relationship with EFT and the synergistic nature of the partnership. He highlighted EFT’s leadership in gas-to-liquids solutions and expressed confidence that integrating their process would significantly boost SAF production while further reducing carbon intensity.

Kenneth Agee, founder and president of EFT, echoed this sentiment, praising Comstock’s impressive yields and highlighting the potential of woody biomass in producing circular fuels. He expressed enthusiasm for the collaboration, emphasizing the shared ambition of accelerating renewable fuel production with low or negative carbon intensity at a competitive cost.

This move aims to address a key challenge in biomass refining: the loss of feedstock value through process emissions. Kevin Kreisler, Comstock’s chief technology officer, explained that up to 20% of feedstock value can be lost in this way. By converting these emissions into additional yield using EFT’s proven technology, it can enhance commercial impact and accelerate market adoption of their combined offering, ultimately producing globally significant quantities of new energy.