Circularity Turns Dairy Biogas into Jet Fuel

HOUSTON, TX (DTN) — Circularity Fuels announced Monday (6/15) it has completed the world’s first end-to-end conversion of raw agricultural biogas into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

Over a six-month pilot, the company drew biogas directly from a California dairy’s manure digester and produced drop-in jet fuel meeting ASTM D7566 Annex A1 specifications — the standard required for commercial aviation use.

Circulatory Fuels expects to break ground on its first commercial site in 2027, targeting agricultural biogas resources across the United States, Latin America, and Europe, according to the company statement.

The pilot host, a dairy of more than 5,000 head near Madera, California, currently vents nearly all of its biogas to the atmosphere despite sitting in the heart of the country’s largest dairy region.

Circularity’s two-reactor system ran on raw biogas — roughly 65% methane and 35% CO₂ — drawn straight from the farm’s digester and produced finished jet fuel blendable at up to 50% with conventional Jet-A for immediate commercial use, according to the company.

The company says commercial-scale deployment can be achieved for under $100,000 bpd of installed capacity — roughly one-fifth the capital cost of SAF plants currently under construction in Europe.

The fuel also qualifies for the EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard and California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard. Global SAF production currently meets less than 1% of demand, and today’s dominant feedstock — used cooking oil, the majority of which is imported from China — offers limited scale and does little to address energy security concerns.