Household Waste and Sewage to Be Used in Jet Fuel Production as Government Makes World-Leading Sustainable Aviation Fuel Commitments

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July 27, 2021

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(U.K. Department for Transport and The Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP) Companies receive funding for sustainable fuel production while sustainable aviation fuel mandate consultation is launched. --

8 companies have been shortlisted to share £15 million government funding to support the development of first-of-a-kind production plants turning waste into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)
SAF to be produced across the UK including Tees Valley, Ellesmere Port and Lincolnshire with the potential to create over 1,000 green jobs across the UK
consultation also launched into world-leading SAF commitment, which could save up to 23 megatons CO2 per year in 2050, equivalent to half a million return flights to Tenerife

Net zero aviation becomes one step closer today (23 July 2021) as 8 companies have been shortlisted to receive a share of £15 million to develop first-of-a-kind production plants across the UK that will turn waste into jet fuel.

Announced as part of the Prime Minister’s 10 point plan, the Green Fuels, Green Skies (GFGS) competition will support these 8 companies as they pioneer new technologies, converting materials such as household waste, alcohol, carbon from the atmosphere and sewage into jet fuel at commercial scales, offering emissions savings of more than 70% compared to the use of conventional fossil jet fuel.

The competition will help position the UK at the forefront of the emerging global SAF industry by producing millions of litres of SAF per year, putting flying onto a more sustainable path.

Shortlisted proposals include plants aiming to produce jet fuel from:

carbon dioxide captured from the atmosphere with hydrogen from water
alcohol derived from wastes, including flue gases from industry
everyday household and commercial black bag rubbish
sewage

Aviation is responsible for 2.5% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and this announcement comes as the government sets out its long-term ambition to lead the world in SAF uptake, with proposals for up to 10% SAF by 2030 and up to 75% SAF by 2050 – generating potential savings of up to 23 megatons of CO2 per year in 2050, equivalent to half a million return flights to Tenerife.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said:

Aviation will be central to our future growth and plans to build back greener from the pandemic, which is why we have invested over £20 million in the past year to decarbonise the sector in line with our world-leading net zero targets.

With 100 days to go until COP26, we’re ramping up our efforts even further to help companies break ground on trailblazing waste to jet fuel plants and put the UK at the forefront of international SAF production.

SAF production in the UK could generate between £0.7 billion and £1.66 billion annually and create 11,000 green jobs by 2040 – with this funding alone kickstarting the creation of over 1,000 local jobs in plants built in Cheshire, Lincolnshire, Tees Valley and South Wales among other locations.

Launched today, the SAF mandate consultation sets out options for SAF adoption in the UK and signals to investors the vital role it will play in the UK aviation sector as we build back greener from the pandemic.

This consultation follows the ambitious jet zero consultation announced last week alongside the Transport decarbonisation plan. The jet zero consultation commits the aviation sector to a net zero emissions target by 2050 and a domestic target of net zero emissions by 2040, consolidating the UK‘s position as leaders in reducing aviation emissions.

The government will aim to showcase the outcomes of both of these consultations and the work of the Jet Zero Council over the past year at COP26 in Glasgow in 100 days, consolidating the UK as leaders in decarbonising aviation. READ MORE

Green Fuels among select group of 8 companies shortlisted by UK govt. for SAF funding (Biobased Diesel Daily)

BA, LanzaJet and Nova Pangaea complete green competition hat-trick (Biofuels International)

UK government to provide £15 million in funding to support early-stage sustainable aviation fuel production projects (GreenAir Online)

Eight UK sustainable aviation fuel projects shortlisted to share £15 million in government grant funding (GreenAir Online)

Excerpt from GreenAir Online: The eight projects shortlisted in the Green Fuels, Green Skies (GFGS) competition are:

Advanced Biofuel Solutions Ltd – ABSL will work with a British refinery and engineering company to produce a detailed engineering design for a new facility in Cheshire, north-west England. The plant will use gasification and Fischer-Tropsch (FT) technology to convert 130,000 tonnes of waste a year into aviation fuel.
Alfanar Energy Ltd – The company’s Lighthouse Green Fuels (LGF) project, located in Tees Valley, north-east England, will use gasification and FT technology to convert household and commercial waste into around 180 million litres of SAF and naphtha. The project is currently completing design optimisation work ahead of starting the front-end engineering design (FEED) stage by the end of 2021.
Fulcrum BioEnergy Ltd – The Fulcrum NorthPoint project, being developed at the Stanlow Manufacturing Complex in north-west England, will convert residual waste into around 100 million litres of SAF using gasification and FT technology. Funding will support the FEED stage of project work.
Green Fuels Research Ltd – A joint endeavour between Green Fuels, Petrofac and Cranfield University, the FIREFLY project aims to demonstrate and certify a technology route to SAF from sewage sludge. Funding will support the project’s pre-FEED development stage.
LanzaTech UK Ltd – Funding will support the FEED stage of a proposed facility in Port Talbot, South Wales, which is expected to produce over 100 million litres of SAF per year, using ethanol from biogenic wastes and industry flue gases.
LanzaTech UK Ltd and Carbon Engineering – Funding will support a feasibility study into producing 100 million litres of SAF per year using Carbon Engineering’s direct air capture (DAC) technology, and hydrogen from water electrolysis to convert into SAF using Lanzatech’s gas fermentation and LanzaJet’s alcohol-to-jet technology. Project members include British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.
Nova Pangaea Technologies (UK) Ltd – Along with British Airways and LanzaJet, the feasibility project will study the optimal design to construct a facility that produces more than 100 million litres of SAF a year using UK woody residues.
Velcocys Projects Ltd – The funding will support progress towards FEED of the Altalto project being developed by Velocys and British Airways to build a commercial waste-to-SAF plant in Immingham, north-east England, using gasification and FT technology. READ MORE