Joule Sunflower-E ethanol approved for commercial use by EPA

Joule, a US producer of liquid fuels from recycled CO₂, has announced that its fuel grade Sunflow-E ethanol has been registered by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for commercial use in E10 and E15 gasoline blends.

Earlier this year Joule announced that Sunflow-E had successfully passed the tests for ASTM D4806 and DIN EN 15376 certifications, US and German bioethanol blending standards respectively.

Serge Tchuruk, president and CEO of Joule, says it is critical to prove the fuel’s readiness by meeting government and industry requirements.

‘We are approaching commercialisation with a technology that is first of its kind, able to convert CO₂ directly into multiple drop-in fuels. Having secured EPA registration, our fuel grade Sunflow-E ethanol is now cleared for use,” Tchuruk says.

Joule’s Sunflow-E ethanol is chemically identical to its traditional counterparts, but differs in the way it is produced.

Joule converts CO₂ to ethanol directly in a continuous process, using engineered bacteria as living catalysts rather than biomass feedstocks.

At full-scale commercialisation, Joule ultimately targets productivity of up to 25,000 gallons of Sunflow-E ethanol per acre annually.

‘Following a full year of production at our demonstration plant, we have achieved a several-fold advance in outdoor productivity. Additionally, we have reached unprecedented levels in our lab reactors, and we know the steps required to replicate these results outdoors,’ says Tchuruk.