RockCreek announces investment in Raven SR

RockCreek, a global investment firm headquartered in Washington, has announced its investment in Pinedale, Wyoming-based Raven SR Inc., a company that produces renewable transportation fuels from a variety of feedstocks, including waste streams, using a proprietary noncombustion process. 

Raven SR will use RockCreek's investment to further commercialize low-to-negative carbon intensity hydrogen and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), the company says. This investment comes on the heels of last month’s announcement of Raven SR’s Richmond, California organic waste-to-energy project.  

According to Raven SR, renewable hydrogen from this project will be commercially available in the Bay Area beginning in 2024 through agreements with Chevron New Energies and Hyzon Motors. The same core technology also will be adapted to commercialize the production of SAF in 2025. 

The Raven SR investment is part of RockCreek's Smart Aviation Futures fund, which works to decarbonize the aviation industry. Smart Aviation Futures will target investments in companies aligned with corporate and consumer preferences for reducing environmental footprints. Supportive public policy initiatives and high demand for SAF are encouraging investors, leading to project development in regions across the world, RockCreek reports.  

"Raven SR is pioneering innovative ways to produce renewable transportation fuels that will play an instrumental role in decarbonizing the aviation and transportation industries," says Justin Heyman, managing director of RockCreek. "Their products have an attractive environmental footprint and are cost competitive with traditional fuels. This offers industries smart options to both manage fuel costs and achieve abatement goals." 

"RockCreek's investment in Raven SR signals the investing community's confidence that our patented Steam/CO2 reforming technology will have a significant impact on reducing carbon emissions through the production of carbon-neutral and carbon-negative fuels," says Matt Murdock, CEO of Raven SR. "With the demand for sustainable aviation fuel and renewable hydrogen rapidly on the rise, RockCreek's support will play a vital role in advancing the development and expansion of our global business model." 

The Raven SR technology is a noncombustion thermal, chemical reductive process that converts organic waste and landfill gas to hydrogen and Fischer-Tropsch synthetic fuels. Unlike other hydrogen production technologies such as electrolysis, its Steam/ CO2 reformation does not require fresh water as a feedstock, the company says. The process is more efficient than conventional hydrogen production and can deliver fuel with low to negative carbon intensity. Raven SR's goal is to generate as much of its own power onsite as possible to reduce reliance on the power grid. Its modular design provides a scalable means to locally produce renewable hydrogen and synthetic liquid fuels from local waste.