The UK Department for Transport has allocated £63 million (approximately $82.22 million) to 17 companies developing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) as part of its Advanced Fuels Fund initiative. The funding, announced on July 22, is expected to support around 1,400 jobs and accelerate the country’s transition to cleaner aviation, reports Ethanol Producer Magazine.
The Advanced Fuels Fund is designed to support first-of-their-kind commercial and demonstration-scale projects. All 17 selected projects have shown that their proposed fuels can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 65% compared to traditional fossil jet fuel.
Here’s a breakdown of some key funding recipients:
Alfanar Energy Ltd. received £8 million for a plant that will use wood and forestry waste to produce SAF using gasification and Fischer-Tropsch technology.
Altalto Ltd. was granted £3 million for converting municipal waste into SAF.
British Sugar PLC received £2.6 million to turn bioethanol from sugar beet residue into jet fuel.
Carbon Neutral Fuels Ltd. got £6 million for a plant that will use CO₂ from direct air capture and low-carbon electricity to make SAF.
Equilibrion Ltd. secured £1 million for a demonstration plant using nuclear electricity and captured CO₂.
Equinor Low Carbon UK Ltd. and Essar Oil UK Ltd./ETT Fuels were awarded £3 million and £2.5 million respectively, both using methanol-to-jet processes.
ETFuels UK Ltd. received £5 million for a plant that will combine green hydrogen and biogenic CO₂.
LanzaJet UK Ltd. was granted £10 million to convert advanced bioethanol into SAF at a commercial scale.
LanzaTech UK Ltd. received £6.4 million to support two projects using waste gases and green hydrogen to make ethanol, which will then be turned into SAF.
NorthPointe Energy Ltd. was awarded £2 million for a project using refuse-derived fuel.
OXCCU TECH Ltd. got £3.1 million to demonstrate a new catalytic process using CO₂ and hydrogen.
Power2X Solutions UK Ltd., SuMo Engineering Ltd., and University of Sheffield also received between £1.5 million and £4.2 million for SAF projects involving methanol, waste gasification, and biogas.
Willis Sustainable Fuels UK Ltd. and Zero Petroleum Ltd. received £2.9 million and £3.5 million respectively to develop smaller commercial plants using biogenic and renewable resources.
These projects mark a significant step in the UK’s push to develop a domestic SAF industry and reduce aviation emissions.
More details are available on the UK Department for Transport’s website.
