Punta Arenas is a town near the tip of Chile's southernmost region, Patagonia. Located in the Strait of Magellan, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, it is often used as a base for the surrounding wilderness and Antarctica.
This is were is located a highly innovative Haru Oni demonstration efuels plant, a company that gathers joint experience of German, Italian, American, Chinese and Chilean companies. Among them is ExxonMobil, with its "methanol to gasoline" (MTG) process. Project started on July 2021.
According to a press release from May 2021, "The pilot will obtain green hydrogen from the water with wind energy, then it is combined with CO2 captured from the atmosphere and through a synthesis process, methanol will be produced. From this, carbon-neutral gasoline will be obtained that can be used in conventional vehicles without any modification. It is expected to produce 350 tons per year of crude methanol and 130,000 liters of gasoline per year. Both fuels will be stored in tanks and transported by trucks to Puerto Mardones, about 35 kilometers from the project for export. In addition, it is projected to produce 16 tons per year of carbon-neutral liquefied gas starting in 2022."
And on December 20, 2022, partners, authorities, and community representatives, celebrated the production of the first liters of synthetic gasoline at the Haru Oni Demonstration Plant. At the ceremony, a "Porsche 911 was loaded with synthetic fuel, starting a new era for the transport sector, in which fuel made with renewable power, green hydrogen, and recycled CO2 could displace conventional fossil fuels without modifications to engines and infrastructure required".
The eFuels plant runs on a 3.4 MW wind turbine and a 13 kV backup transmission line.
Click at the image below for the December 2022 press release and here for the company's portal in Chile.
Haru Oni Demonstration Plant, from HIF Chile is part of the HIF Global, a global eFuels company, developing projects in different parts of the world to fight climate change by producing carbon-neutral fuels with green hydrogen and recycled CO2. HIF USA, HIF Asia Pacific, and HIF EMEA are also subsidiaries.
The name HIF represents the mission of the company: to provide Highly Innovative Fuels.
