DCC, Oberon partner on rDME production facilities

Photo courtesy of Oberon Fuels

Oberon Fuels, a producer of renewable dimethyl ether (rDME) transportation fuel, and DCC Energy, the parent company of DCC Propane, are partnering on the design, construction and operation of multiple rDME production plants in Europe.

Oberon will construct and operate the rDME production facilities, and DCC will commit to buying Oberon’s rDME as an offtake partner. DCC will supply customers with rDME to help decarbonize.

“Oberon and DCC are committed to ensuring that Europe has access to sustainable and scalable forms of clean energy and fuel,” says Rebecca Boudreaux, president and CEO of Oberon Fuels. “Our experience in developing rDME plants and selling commercial-grade fuel combined with DCC’s scale, distribution infrastructure and 9 million energy customers will enable both parties to reduce emissions, increase employment and diversify the regional energy portfolio.”

DME blended with liquid petroleum gas (LPG) can be used in existing residential, commercial and industrial applications. After adjustments to the existing infrastructure, pure rDME is a drop-in energy source for existing applications. DME is stored, transported and dispensed using existing LPG vehicles and equipment, which makes it quick to deploy, efficient and cost-effective, according to Oberon Fuels.

“DCC Energy is accelerating the decarbonization journey of our customers by leading the sales, marketing and distribution of low carbon energy solutions,” says Fabian Ziegler, DCC’s CEO. “This is an important new long-term partnership with Oberon. We are securing supply of an innovative renewable gas, which we will drop into our customers’ existing infrastructure.”

DME is approved as a renewable fuel under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s renewable fuel standard program, making it eligible for renewable identification number (RIN) credits when made from biogas by the Oberon process. California Air Resources Board estimated that dairy manure converted to DME by the Oberon process has a CI of -278 gCO2e/MJ. To compare, ultra-low-sulfur diesel has a CI of 100 gCO2e/MJ.