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www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080810/BUSINESS/808100335/1003/BUSINESS
Synthetic fuel plant opens in Colorado
Associated Press
Posted: August 10, 2008

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. -- Energy supplier Rentech says it has opened a synthetic diesel- and jet-fuel plant in Colorado that is now the only operating one of its kind in the country.

Los Angeles-based Rentech said its demonstration plant in Commerce City is designed to produce 420 gallons a day -- a mere trickle compared with the needs of airlines and trucking companies.

Company officials said their natural gas-based fuel will be sold to the Department of Defense and private companies for further testing. That testing could lead to certifying the fuel for commercial use in the airline industry.

Airlines have pressed for synthetic alternatives to expensive petroleum- based jet fuel. Synthetic fuel has yet to be certified for U.S. airlines. However, a coalition of airline, manufacturing and airport associations wants standards for a 50 percent synthetic jet fuel approved by the end of the year.

Other U.S. companies have produced synthetic jet fuels for research purposes, but they've since shut down, said National Energy Technology Laboratory spokesman Joe Culver.