GASCO and HIF GLOBAL achieve successful tests to generate synthetic liquefied gas in Magallanes

PRESS RELEASE from Gasco and HIF Global
May 22, 2024

(Machine translation of original release, issued in Spanish)

Punta Arenas, May 22, 2024. Positive progress was achieved in the production of synthetic carbon-neutral liquefied gas at the Haru Oni plant. The alliance between GASCO Companies and HIF Global took another step, after laboratory tests confirmed the predicted molecular composition of butanes and propanes.

The Business Manager of GASCO Magallanes, Sergio Huepe, highlighted that “an eventual massive production of eGL would allow reducing carbon emissions into the atmosphere, as well as distributing and using it without the need to modify the equipment and infrastructure that operate with said fuel. ”.

“This is an important advance for the alliance we have with Empresas GASCO: our plant can produce other byproducts, in this case, a greener liquefied gas, which allows - just like our e-Fuels - to advance in the fight against climate change. Advancing in research and development is exactly one of Haru Oni's objectives, so we are very happy with this step forward,” said HIF Magallanes manager, Juan Eduardo Gallardo.

The e-GL was recently transferred in isotanks from the Haru Oni plant to the GASCO Magallanes premises in the Industrial District of Punta Arenas, where they will be transferred to liquefied gas cylinders and sent for analysis to the laboratory of the Federico Santa María University in Valparaiso. This, within the framework of the R&D project developed with GASCO Companies to analyze its combustion, verify its specification and characterization. At the same time, other cylinders will be taken to the GASCO Maipú plant for analysis of compositions that can be used, in accordance with national regulations, for future use of this fuel in homes, commerce, vehicles and industries.

eGL is obtained by combining green hydrogen with carbon dioxide (CO2). Initially, biogenic CO2 is being used and in the future CO2 captured from the atmosphere will be used, to first produce methanol and then, through MtG (Methanol-to-Gasoline) technology, produce carbon-neutral synthetic liquefied gas.

The project included an investment in R&D (Research + Development) of US$ 3 million by Empresas GASCO, and is part of the agreement signed in 2021 with HIF Global, which seeks to promote more sustainable gas, which can be used , stored and transported as is done today with conventional liquefied gas, without the need to modify infrastructure, capacity or equipment and obtaining a more environmentally friendly product.

Haru Oni, which produces low-carbon synthetic gasoline, is the only e-GL plant currently operating in the world. This has generated great expectations among relevant actors in the fuel industry who aim at decarbonization and sustainability.