UK Government to Provide £15 Million in Funding to Support Early-Stage Sustainable Aviation Fuel Production Projects DEADLINE: May 31, 2021

(GreenAir Online) The UK government has launched a £15 million ($21m) ‘Green Fuels, Green Skies’ competition to support early-stage development of UK sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plants with grant funding. Specifically targeted are projects undergoing a front end engineering design (FEED) stage in their development lifecycle and will prioritise those projects closest to the development of first-of-a-kind (FOAK) commercial-scale SAF plant. The competition will also be open to projects outside this scope and will allocate up to £2 million in funding to projects at the feasibility stage of project development. The competition is part of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s ‘Ten point plan for a green industrial revolution’ unveiled in November. The announcement coincides with the second meeting of the Jet Zero Council, set up by the government last year in partnership with industry and others to stimulate net-zero emissions flight by mid-century through the development of new aviation fuels and technologies. Heathrow Airport COO Emma Gilthorpe has been appointed CEO of the Council, with a brief to extend its reach with key stakeholders across the sector and drive forward aviation decarbonisation. Meanwhile, the government is to provide £5.5 million in funding towards modernisation of UK airspace.

Commenting after the Council meeting, UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “As the aviation sector emerges out of the pandemic and looks towards recovery over the coming months, we must put our environmental commitments at the centre of everything we do – so not only do we build back better, we also build back greener. That’s why we’re stepping up our work on the Council, recruiting new members and launching pioneering efforts to ensure we continue to lead the world by example and deliver on our ambitious net-zero targets.”

Added Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, who co-chairs the Council with Shapps, said: “The meeting demonstrates the vital collaboration between government and industry that will make zero-emission flights a reality. Britain’s aerospace sector is at the centre of our plans to build back greener from the pandemic. We are committed to supporting its recovery and investing in green tech to take us closer to zero-carbon take-off.”

One of the objectives of the Jet Zero Council is to accelerate SAF delivery by supporting investment in FOAK SAF plants, supporting R&D of new pathways and to drive down production costs through upscaling and innovation. The ‘Green Fuels, Green Skies’ (GFGS) competition is being run by the Department for Transport (DfT) in partnership with E4tech and Ricardo Energy & Environment, who were also responsible for the Future Fuels for Freight and Flight competition that was launched in 2017 and had applications for funding from the Velocys Altalto waste-to-jet project and the LanzaJet SAF from waste-based ethanol project.

Application forms for the competition are available to download from the Ricardo website on March 24 and the closing date for applications is May 31. The DfT expects to announce the winners and the start of the funding period at the end of July, with the funding period for winning projects due to end on March 31, 2022. READ MORE