Haffner Energy

Haffner Energy is a French cleantech company, with its head office in Vitry-le-François in the Grand-Est region, that produces renewable gas, hydrogen, methanol and sustainable aviation fuel from biomass.

The company has 33 years of experience in turning biomass into energy. It works with industrial firms and local governments that want to move away from fossil fuels. Its process is called biomass thermolysis. It uses local biomass residues, or biomass from perennial crops grown on marginal land, that have no other competing use. The company holds more than 80 international patents.

The process makes a hydrogen-rich renewable syngas called Hypergas. This gas can replace fossil natural gas to make heat or power in industries such as metals, glass, ceramics, paper, bricks, food and petrochemicals. From it, the company offers four main solutions: renewable syngas, renewable hydrogen, renewable methanol and sustainable aviation fuel.

For aviation, Haffner Energy turns renewable syngas into bio-SAF through the Fischer-Tropsch or Alcohol-to-Jet routes, both approved by ASTM. This fuel can replace fossil kerosene in existing aircraft. The company also notes that its renewable hydrogen could one day power short and medium-haul hydrogen aircraft.

The thermolysis process also gives two co-products. These are biochar and biogenic CO2. Biochar can improve soil in farming and can be used in building. It also stores carbon, and that benefit can be sold as carbon removal certificates.

Haffner Energy has completed more than 40 biomass cogeneration projects, with a total of 600 MW. Most were in Europe and Africa. It runs one production plant in Frignicourt. It has about 50 staff across three sites in France, plus a representation office in Houston, Texas, and it also has offices in Paris and Nantes. The company aims to cut 200 million tonnes of CO2 by 2034. Its newer C-iC line targets mid-size renewable gas, hydrogen, methanol and methane plants.

Services

• Renewable syngas
• Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)
• Renewable hydrogen
• Renewable methanol
• Biomass thermolysis technology
• Biochar and biogenic CO2 co-products
• Biomass cogeneration projects
• C-iC mid-size plant line