Honeywell to explore China's SAF market: senior executive

BEIJING - Honeywell, a US industrial conglomerate, will join hands with local partners to explore the great market opportunities in China's sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) sector, according to a senior executive with the company.

"China's low-carbon transformation creates opportunities for the innovation and application of sustainable technologies," said Henry Liu, vice-president and general manager of Honeywell Performance Materials and Technologies Asia Pacific.

He said that Honeywell has launched its new SAF process technology and solution in China.

"We value China's low-carbon transformation as a key direction, and hope to find better business paths and platforms here," Liu said.

The company has recently signed multiple memorandums of understanding with local partners to boost SAF technological development and production at various sites across China, according to Liu.

Among them, Honeywell and Tianjin Free Trade Zone have agreed to jointly explore opportunities for SAF production in North China's Tianjin municipality, combining the city's location and industrial advantages with Honeywell's ready-now technology and equipment.

These intensive moves demonstrate the company's confidence in the Chinese market, and will help meet China's growing market demand for SAF and other technologies in the country's green transition, according to Liu.

In September last year, Honeywell announced its cooperation with Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech Stock Co Ltd to build an SAF production facility in Lianyungang City, East China's Jiangsu province. The facility will produce SAF by making use of kitchen waste oil and animal fat as the main raw materials.

Compared with traditional fuels, using kitchen waste oil and animal fat as raw materials can greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"China provides a suitable place to apply many of our pioneering technologies and solutions, and allows these technical routes to be verified," Liu said.

"Our implementation in the Chinese market will also provide a strong reference point for other markets, helping to increase the confidence and impetus of technology application globally," he added.