Fulcrum Bioenergy

Fulcrum Bioenergy is a California-based company that produces low-carbon, drop-in transportation fuels from household garbage. The company uses a thermochemical process to convert municipal solid waste (or MSW) and feedstock into low-carbon renewable transportation fuels including jet fuel and diesel.

Fulcrum secures large volumes of MSW through its long-term agreements with its waste service partners, Waste Management and Waste Connections, for the supply of MSW feedstock throughout North America. These long-term contracts eliminate supply risks for Fulcrum while ensuring production at stable cost and pricing.

In December 2022, the company produced low-carbon synthetic crude oil from landfill waste at its Sierra BioFuels Plant, the world's first commercial-scale waste-to-fuels plant as per the company, located outside Reno, Nevada in the US. The plant will produce ~11 million gallons of renewable, low-carbon syncrude each year from 175,000 tons of landfill waste.

As of March 2024, the company aimed to develop over ten plants in the US with the capacity to produce ~400 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) annually.

Key customers and partnerships

Fulcrum’s fuel is used by BP, United Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, the US Department of Defense, Marathon Petroleum, and independent engineers such as Leidos and Black & Veatch.

Funding and financials

In February 2023, Fulcrum BioEnergy received a GBP 16.8 million (USD 20.2 million) grant from the UK Department for Transport Advanced Fuels Fund to support the development of Fulcrum NorthPoint, a residual waste-to-SAF facility at the Essar Stanlow Manufacturing Complex in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, North West England. The facility was expected to convert nearly 600,000 tonnes of residual waste into nearly 100 million liters of low-carbon SAF per year from 2027.