On Thursday, March 21, 2024, the American company “Infinium” announced its success in operating a project called “Pathfinder” in Corpus Christi, Texas. To produce synthetic fuels in the world on a commercial scale to contribute to reducing transportation sector emissions and achieving global climate goals.

The project aims to produce low-carbon synthetic fuel that can be used in heavy transportation applications and chemical processes. Green hydrogen is produced from wind energy and adds carbon dioxide captured from a gas processing facility. Howard Energy Partners is affiliated with the company to produce synthetic gas, which is then processed by The startup's liquid fuel production process.

Robert Schwetzl, CEO of Infinium, announced the operation of the facility, saying that it would not have been possible to achieve this milestone without the team that provided commercial synthetic fuel production, logistics, and product delivery, none of which existed before.

There is control that includes the process of producing synthetic fuels, which gives continuous feedback that enables us to quickly accelerate additional projects and expand the scope of global production of synthetic fuels, and the electric diesel that is produced will be used to fuel existing Amazon trucks at a cost that will be higher than fossil diesel.

There are 12 projects under development in the United States, Europe, Japan and Australia, but only 3 have been announced besides the Panfinder project. The company is developing the Roadrunner facility and is being built in an old gas-to-liquids plant in West Texas with the support of a $75 million investment from Breakthrough Energy.

The third project is the RIOS project in Dunkirk, northern France, and is being developed by the French utility company Energie. The project will analyze electricity with a capacity of 400 megawatts to produce green hydrogen, which is combined with carbon dioxide gas captured from a steel plant.

The cost and production volume have not been announced, and it is expected that the company's capacity to produce synthetic fuel will increase 10 times. The facility is considered the only one in the world in commercial operation. The "Haro Oni" pilot project is affiliated with the "HIF" company, which is located in southern Chile, where it shipped… About 24.6 thousand synthetic gasoline will be shipped to the United Kingdom for use in Porsche racing cars, and the cost of the project is estimated at 50 euros.

Manufacturing synthetic fuels for road transport is an unacceptable waste of renewable electricity and is very expensive. A driver who drives a synthetic gasoline car in 2030 will spend 10,000 euros more than a driver driving a battery electric car over 5 years.

77% of the primary electricity is used to turn the wheels, especially when running a battery-powered electric car with renewable energy, and the efficiency is only 20% for electric diesel and 16% for electric gasoline. Synthetic fuels are set to be essential for decarbonizing aviation because the batteries will be heavy.

The value of the global synthetic fuel market – estimated at $6.9 billion in 2023 – is likely to reach about $104.2 billion by 2033, at a compound annual growth rate of more than 30%. Among the challenges facing the market is achieving cost competitiveness. Along with conventional fossil fuels, the synthetic fuel market is largely based on supportive government policies and requires consistent policy support to stimulate their use.