Haffner Energy enters US clean-fuels market

Haffner Energy Inc. is now open for business in North America.

The new entity is a subsidiary of France-based Haffner Energy, provider of competitive clean-fuels solutions with 30 years of experience.

“The U.S. market is a very promising opportunity for us,” said Marc Haffner, Haffner Energy co-founder and CEO of Haffner Energy Inc. “Our unique clean-fuels production technology converts any biomass, making it biomass-agnostic. Biomass is not only essential for the development of liquid clean fuels, it is also an abundant resource in the United States. In addition, the federal funding program for new renewable energy projects under the Inflation Reduction Act is creating favorable market conditions. In particular, demand for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is very strong in the United States. We are already exploring the possibility of developing SAF production units with local players.”

A family company co-founded by brothers Marc and Philippe Haffner 30 years ago, Haffner Energy designs and supplies innovative decarbonization solutions for mobility and industry.

Its technology, based on biomass thermolysis and protected by 80 international patents, can produce SAF as well as renewable hydrogen, gas and methanol.

It is compatible with EU mandates.

According to the U.S. DOE’s 2023 Billion-Ton Report (BT23), the United States can sustainably produce more than 1 billion tons of dry biomass—including food waste, municipal solid waste, agricultural and forest wastes, manure, algae and energy crops.

Such quantity could almost satisfy, for example, the production of enough SAF to meet today’s global demand for aviation fuels.

Haffner Energy said its approach is about powering a circular economy that generates revenue and job creation.

In this context, memorandum of understanding was signed in March with Hexas Biomass Inc. with a view to developing joint projects on marginal lands.

With the support of Business France agency and its Cleantech Booster USA program, Haffner Energy started growing its visibility in the U.S. last fall.

Its value proposition was quickly identified when the company was selected by innovation hub Greentown Labs in Houston.

It has been hosted there since November.

In addition, Haffner Energy is a member of ARCHES H2, California’s initiative to accelerate renewable hydrogen projects.

The company has also joined HyVelocity Hub, a collaborative of energy companies and research organizations working to advance the clean hydrogen ecosystem in Texas and Louisiana.

Marcella Franchi, former senior vice president for North America, and Nathalie Ionesco have been spearheading the company’s representation efforts in the United States.

“Our clean-fuels solutions have been exceptionally well-received so far in North America,” said Franchi, who is now the global chief marketing officer and head of SAF at Haffner Energy. “We are currently developing several SAF and renewable hydrogen projects, in Texas and California particularly.”

In the first quarter of this year alone, Haffner Energy was featured at several top-tier energy industry events in the U.S., including the MIT Energy Conference and the CERAWeek.

It was short-listed also as a finalist for Reuters Events Energy Transition’s Global Energy Transition Awards.

Laureates will be announced June 25 at a ceremony in New York.