The Solaris initiative: locally sustainable biofuel for jets

Human nature is to progress, to continually improve on existing structures. Project Solaris is an example of that nature. A joint initiative started by Sunchem SA and SkyNRG, it’s already making progress in the world of biofuel.

Two years ago, Sunchem SA and SkyNRG launched the project in Limpopo with the aim to roll it out on a wide scale and be the go-to for locally sustainable jet biofuel production. Today, they’ve achieved that goal.

“The Solaris crop yields about 2.5 MT ton (sic) of oil per hectare. This is significantly more than traditional oil crops,” said Solaris’ Project Manager Samantha Hampton in an interview with Ventureburn.  “Solaris is cross bred and specifically developed to have no nicotine and produce as much as flowers possible which produce the seed and hence the oil. Solaris also has the added benefit of not being linked to the food market (not to be confused with feed market, since this is a major co-product of the project) which traditional oil crops are,” she continued.

The representative also said they were well past their 70% CO2 reduction goal.

“The feedstock itself (pre-refining and final transportation) is already at 95% reduction, so, all in all, we are already at, if  not better than 70%. Given that most of the crop goes towards a high-value animal feed, the portion of the crop that even contributes to GHG (Green House Gas) is fairly minimal,” said Hampton.

Biofuels affect not just the markets but also opens the door for communities to play a part, Hampton explains.

“We try to be approachable for all farmers big and small and to give them equal opportunity in this new and exciting market space. Given the excessive unemployment and poverty in the agricultural regions of our country, the expansion of the Solaris project is an excellent opportunity for job creation and rural economic development,” said Hampton. “We have started working with emerging farmers alongside commercial farmers and have developed specific training materials and workshops to assist them.”

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The venture itself wasn’t an easy one, as much research and development had to be done before the project could be underway. It is roughly estimated that €9-million had been spent to get the project underway. Besides requiring plenty of funds, there were other challenges observed.

“Introducing a new crop in a new country always comes with it challenges,” said Hampton. “We had to learn what local diseases and pests would be a problem, and we had to build relationships in a very close knit community, we had to figure out how to do the processing as our plots of land increased each year,” she continued.

“The nature of farming means that it can only be tested out once a year, else you have to wait till the next year. Therefore this is not a fly-by-night project, we have already invested 4 years, and foresee needing to invest several more to reach a real industrial success,” said Hampton.

South Africa’s climate can also put farmers in a bad position, requiring them to adapt quickly. “The climate can also throw one a curve-ball as it did last season, however despite having much lower yields due to the extreme heat and lack of water, we still received a harvest when many farmers lost their whole crop altogether. This has given us further confidence in the hardiness of the Solaris crop,” the representative continued.

On 15 July 2016, South African Airways (SAA) successfully conducted their first flight between Johannesburg and Cape Town using the Solaris biofuel, hopefully leading to many more SAA planes getting on board.

“We only know that SAA has the ambition to replace 50% of its fuel by 2024 (400-500 million litres) and we’re of course happy to be a supplier towards that goal. The viability of this goal depends on generating enough feedstock locally such that would warrant the construction of a local bio-jet fuel refinery,” said Hampton.

“We, of course, are aiming to expand our activities such that we can partner with them,” she continued.

With the growing success of Project Solaris and the sustainability they create, we can hopefully see even more initiatives from them that seek to grow and sustain the South African economy and put us forward as world innovators.

Feature image: SkyNRG via press statement