French clean-energy technology company Haffner Energy has launched SB-HEFA (Solid Biomass to HEFA), a process designed to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel from solid biomass without first converting the biomass-derived oil into syngas.
The company says the process could materially reduce the production cost of renewable fuels by combining its thermolysis technology with established hydroprocessing technology used in the HEFA industry. Haffner Energy is targeting an approximately 50% reduction in levelised production cost compared with other renewable diesel and SAF pathways, including conventional HEFA, based on its own techno-economic modelling.
The company announced the technology on 22 September 2026, saying it is initially targeting renewable diesel before pursuing SAF qualification and commercial deployment.
SB-HEFA removes the syngas conversion step
Haffner Energy’s existing thermolysis technology produces an oil intermediate from solid biomass. Under its established process configuration, that oil is converted into non-condensable gases that can subsequently be used to produce products including syngas, hydrogen, methane or methanol.
SB-HEFA takes a different route. Instead of reforming the thermolysis oil into gas, the process extracts and rapidly cools the oil to stabilise it before filtration and subsequent hydrodeoxygenation (HDO). The final conversion stage uses technologies already established in the HEFA industry, according to Haffner Energy.
The company says the resulting process chain is shorter than routes that first convert solid biomass into a gaseous intermediate and subsequently synthesise liquid hydrocarbons.
Philippe Haffner, chairman and chief executive officer of Haffner Energy, said the process combines the company’s existing thermolysis technology with an established conversion chain to target a different cost structure for renewable diesel and SAF.
Solid biomass could reduce feedstock costs
Feedstock economics are central to Haffner Energy’s case for SB-HEFA.
The company says European used cooking oil (UCO) was trading at around €1,000–€1,200 per tonne in 2026, equivalent to approximately €100–€120/MWh of primary energy. It puts the cost of the residual solid biomass intended for SB-HEFA at approximately €10–€30/MWh.
That difference is potentially significant because oils and fats represent a major cost component in conventional HEFA production.
Haffner Energy says the solid biomass feedstock can therefore cost, on average, about five times less on an energy basis than the UCO benchmark it cites.
The economics will nevertheless depend on the type, quality, location and logistics of the biomass, as well as preprocessing requirements and the costs of hydrogen and downstream upgrading.
Haffner Energy targets lower CAPEX
The company is also targeting a lower capital requirement compared with other solid-biomass-to-liquid routes.
According to Haffner Energy’s techno-economic assessment, an SB-HEFA facility could require approximately one-third of the capital expenditure of a solid-biomass-to-liquid-fuels chain based on Fischer-Tropsch or methanol synthesis.
The company attributes the potential reduction partly to avoiding the intermediate gasification/syngas conversion and subsequent synthesis stages.
Haffner Energy is also targeting an approximately 50% reduction in levelised production cost for renewable diesel and SAF compared with other pathways, including HEFA. These figures are company targets based on its techno-economic model rather than demonstrated commercial operating results.
Renewable diesel is the initial target market
Haffner Energy plans to focus the first industrial development of SB-HEFA on renewable diesel.
The company argues that renewable diesel provides a less technically and regulatorily constrained initial market than aviation fuel, allowing the technology to progress towards commercial deployment while SAF qualification is pursued.
Unlike conventional biodiesel based on fatty acid methyl esters (FAME), renewable diesel is a hydrocarbon fuel with properties closer to conventional petroleum-derived diesel and can be used as a direct substitute in appropriate applications.
Potential markets identified by Haffner Energy include heavy road transport, agriculture and construction equipment, rail, maritime applications and power generation.
The company is targeting a first complete industrial demonstrator in 2027 or 2028. It also says non-hydrotreated oil can already be produced at its Marolles site in France.
SAF pathway to enter ASTM qualification
Haffner Energy intends to begin the ASTM qualification process for SB-HEFA as a SAF production pathway.
The company says it will draw on the precedent of HC-HEFA, which underwent the ASTM D4054 accelerated evaluation process, known as the Fast Track, before its incorporation into ASTM D7566.
ASTM qualification is a critical step for any new aviation fuel pathway because commercial deployment requires compliance with the relevant aviation fuel specifications and certification framework.
Haffner Energy is targeting commercial SB-HEFA deployment for aviation from 2030.
That timing coincides with the next major increase in Europe’s mandatory SAF share. Under the EU’s ReFuelEU Aviation Regulation, fuel suppliers must supply at least 6% SAF from 2030, up from 2% from 2025. The regulation also introduces a synthetic-fuel sub-target from 2030.
SAF market faces feedstock and cost constraints
Haffner Energy’s technology announcement comes as European SAF demand is being driven by mandatory blending requirements.
EASA reported in September 2026 that EU aviation fuel suppliers supplied 1.1 million tonnes of SAF in 2025, equivalent to 2.8% of aviation fuel supplied at Union airports and above the 2% ReFuelEU requirement. The agency also reported that approximately 80% of 2025 SAF supply consisted of aviation biofuels, overwhelmingly produced from UCO.
This concentration creates a potential opening for alternative feedstocks and production pathways.
EASA’s latest data also shows that the EU SAF market remains heavily dependent on imported feedstocks: 85% of feedstocks used for reported SAF supply in 2025 were imported, with China accounting for 61% of those imports.
SB-HEFA is intended to broaden the feedstock base by using residual solid biomass rather than relying primarily on oils and fats.
Haffner Energy plans licensing-led business model
SB-HEFA is being developed as part of Haffner Energy’s technology licensing strategy.
The company intends to generate revenue through technology licence fees, royalties, services and the supply of strategic components, rather than relying exclusively on direct equipment sales.
Haffner Energy said it is targeting several million euros in upfront licence fees, supplemented by royalties and service and component revenues.
The company also plans to establish SAF Zero, a dedicated entity focused on developing the SAF business through technology licensing. Its Canadian subsidiary, Mundi Haffner Technologies Inc., is also expected to support development.
Haffner Energy said it is in advanced discussions with an investment bank regarding the identification of industrial and financial partners that could invest in SAF Zero and finance its development. The company intends for SAF Zero’s development to be funded by partners rather than through Haffner Energy’s own financial resources.
SB-HEFA differs from conventional pyrolysis oil
Haffner Energy is also positioning SB-HEFA oil as distinct from conventional pyrolysis oils.
The company says its process combines torrefied biomass with very short residence times during thermolysis, producing an intermediate with lower oxygen content and acidity and very low residual solid-particle content.
According to Haffner Energy, those characteristics make the intermediate more suitable for subsequent hydrotreatment than conventional pyrolysis oils.
The distinction will be important commercially because the performance of any biomass-to-liquid pathway depends not only on feedstock cost but also on the quality of the intermediate, upgrading requirements, hydrogen consumption, carbon efficiency and final fuel specifications.
Bioenergy Business Analysis
SB-HEFA addresses one of the most persistent constraints in renewable diesel and SAF development: the cost and availability of suitable feedstocks. Conventional HEFA has benefited from commercial maturity, but its reliance on oils and fats creates exposure to feedstock pricing and competition between fuel markets. EASA’s latest EU data reinforces that point, with UCO accounting for the overwhelming majority of the biofuel feedstock used for SAF supply in 2025.
Haffner Energy’s proposed alternative is technically interesting because it attempts to retain the relatively mature hydrotreatment end of the HEFA chain while changing the upstream feedstock-to-intermediate conversion. If the company’s claimed feedstock, CAPEX and energy-efficiency advantages can be demonstrated at industrial scale, the approach could expand the range of biomass resources available for renewable hydrocarbon production.
The key qualification is that the 50% production-cost reduction remains a company target based on modelling, not an independently demonstrated commercial result. The planned 2027/2028 industrial demonstrator and subsequent ASTM qualification will therefore be important milestones. For SAF specifically, certification, fuel quality, lifecycle emissions performance, hydrogen requirements and sustainable biomass availability will determine whether the theoretical cost advantage translates into a commercially deployable aviation fuel pathway.
