(Corrects paragraph 2 after company says proposed plant to produce at least 33.3 million U.S. gallons of SAF, not 793,000))
HOUSTON, March 21 (Reuters) - Brazil's largest sugar-cane ethanol producer, Raizen, has explored locations in Brazil for an ethanol-based sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant, aiming to build the world's second ethanol-to-jet fuel plant.
The proposed project would produce at least 33.3 million U.S. gallons per year of SAF using ethanol rather than biomass waste, Paulo Neves, Raizen vice president of trading, told Reuters on the sidelines of the CERAWeek energy conference on Thursday.
"There is not enough used cooking oil or tallow available in the world to produce all the SAF that is demanded," said Neves. Brazil's role as a large ethanol producer positions it to become an SAF producer as well.
"We have even studied the location, we've studied the conditions that are required in that location to build it," he said. Neves did not disclose the potential site.
Raizen said it needs a partner to secure the technology for the plant.
The first ethanol-based SAF commercial production plant, LanzaJet Inc's Freedom Pines Fuels facility, opened in Soperton, Georgia, in January, and aims to produce nine million gallons of SAF in its first year, the U.S. Department of Energy has said.
SAF can cost five times as much as conventional fuel and accounts for just 0.2% of the jet fuel market. (Reporting by Georgina McCartney; Editing by David Gregorio)
