Australian-based global investment group Macquarie Asset Management (MAM) has announced a €175 million ($190m) investment in Amsterdam-based SkyNRG, an established global provider of sustainable aviation fuel. SkyNRG sources, blends and distributes SAF, and is developing production plants in the Netherlands and the US Pacific Northwest to help meet demand for the fuel. The company has secured partnerships with key aviation companies including KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Boeing, and has “envisaged long-term commitments” in SAF deals valued at up to €4 billion. While SkyNRG has secured significant backing from a major investor, two major start-up waste-to-SAF producers, Fulcrum BioEnergy and Velocys, are said to be facing financial challenges as they develop their respective projects. Reports in the US say Fulcrum, which started operations at its Sierra commercial-scale facility in Nevada in May last year, has failed to make bond repayments, while Velocys said an expected $15 million US investment has fallen through.

Managing nearly $600 billion in assets globally, MAM’s investment in SkyNRG marks its first in sustainable aviation fuels. “We have a track record for backing businesses working at the forefront of energy transition,” said Mark Dooley, Global Head of MAM Green Investments. “This is an exciting milestone for us. SkyNRG has been a pioneer in SAF, with an entrepreneurial spirit and a strong commercial focus. We look forward to collaborating with the SkyNRG team as they grow their business and advance solutions to decarbonise the aviation industry.”

Since its establishment 14 years ago, SkyNRG has been a leading supplier of SAF and a prominent advocate of global government support to provide incentives or mandates for production and use of the low-carbon fuels. In 2011, the world’s first commercial flight using SAF was supplied by SkyNRG, which has since expanded into research and development, SAF sales, and advisory services.

Announcing the initial stake from Macquarie’s GIG (Green Investment Group) Energy Transition Solutions (MGETS) Fund, the two companies said the SAF sector was benefiting from “significant tailwinds” including voluntary corporate offtake commitments in support of their net zero emission targets, as well as increasing political and regulatory support, including Europe’s ReFuelEU mandate that requires escalating use of SAF, and the Biden Administration’s SAF Grand Challenge and Inflation Reduction Act, which respectively set steep targets and offer strong incentives for the use of SAF.

SkyNRG estimates that by 2050, the airline sector’s target year for net zero carbon emissions, incentives to use SAF will create demand for up to €650 billion ($700bn) of investment in the sector.

“It is critical that SAF production capacity is developed now to enable the aviation industry to meet its net zero goals,” said SkyNRG CEO Philippe Lacamp. “We are very proud that Macquarie has made this strategic investment in our business, and we are confident that they, with the ongoing support of our existing shareholders, will provide us with the resources and expertise we need to accelerate our growth journey towards becoming a major player in the SAF industry.”

Initially, SkyNRG is planning to establish three production plants – Europe’s first dedicated SAF facility in Delfzijl, Netherlands, in partnership with Shell, KLM and SHV Energy, the SynKero synthetic fuel plant in the Port of Amsterdam, and a facility in the Pacific Northwest of the USA, with partners including Boeing.

The Delfzijl and Amsterdam facilities are each targeting annual production of 100,000 tonnes of SAF, while the US plant is aiming for 90,000 tonnes per year. Delfzijl will also produce over 35,000 tonnes of sustainable by-products per year, including LPG and naphtha, while the Pacific Northwest plant will specifically service key US west coast markets supported by Low Carbon Fuel Standard policies. The SynKero facility will produce eFuels from captured CO2 and green hydrogen, and have the added benefit of access to an existing fuel pipeline to Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.

Macquarie Asset Management has set a target of net zero emissions by 2040 and manages its investments in line with that commitment. In its recently released 2023 Sustainability Report, Macquarie highlights the switch of global investment managers to more sustainable portfolios and warned that carbon-intensive businesses would struggle to progress. “From our experience,” said Macquarie, “carbon-intensive assets are becoming more expensive to insure, harder to finance, more challenging to recruit top talent to and ultimately have a more limited set of future buyers.”

Ben Way, Group Head of Macquarie Asset Management, added: “In most cases, the energy transition is creating significant opportunities for businesses to preserve and create value. Those who aren’t adapting or evolving risk being left behind.

“Global investment in the energy transition exceeded US$1 trillion for the first time in 2022 and investment in new renewable energy supply now surpasses investment in fossil fuels. We are seeing a significant acceleration in change across all sectors and geographies.

“Supported by the economics of green technologies and bolstered by transformative policy initiatives, we believe the energy transition will lead to even greater investment opportunities for our clients.”

Meanwhile, in a market statement, Velocys said a planned $15 million investment from New York-based Carbon Direct Capital would not go ahead after it failed to secure $40 million from other backers by a target date of the end of October. The company’s proposed Altalto Immingham SAF facility in north-east England received £27 million ($33m) from the UK government’s Advanced Fuels Fund late last year.

Last month, Velocys launched its new technology facility in Plain City, Ohio, which will house the reactor core assembly and catalysis operations that form a critical part of the company’s SAF production process. It is expected the facility will have sufficient production capacity to meet projected orders until 2028, including those from Altalto Immingham and its other biorefinery project, Bayou Fuels in Mississippi.

“The completion of this state-of-the-art facility is a real milestone both for Velocys and for the move to decarbonise the aviation industry,” said CEO Henrik Wareborn. “To move from planning permission to completion in two years is a testament to all those involved and takes us a big step closer to enable our clients to produce SAF with ultra-low carbon intensity at commercial scale.”

Another pioneer of converting municipal solid waste to jet fuel at commercial scale, California-based Fulcrum BioEnergy, is said to have missed repayments on bond financing tied to its Sierra BioFuels Plant & Feedstock Processing Facility in Nevada. According to documents, the company must work with trustee UMB Bank to come up with an alternative financing agreement. Plans for a new SAF facility in Gary, Indiana are reported to be on hold. The company has so far made no comment.

Equity partners in Fulcrum include BP, Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways and United Airlines. Like Velocys, Fulcrum BioEnergy’s UK subsidiary received a grant of £16.8 million ($20 million) from the Advanced Fuels Fund to support the development of the Fulcrum NorthPoint facility in north-west England.

Photo: Shell/SkyNRG/KLM

Tony Harrington

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Additional reporting by Christopher Surgenor

Air New Zealand and the New Zealand government have shortlisted two US-based renewable fuel providers, Fulcrum BioEnergy and LanzaJet, the latter in combination with LanzaTech, to conduct feasibility studies for the local production of sustainable aviation fuel, using solid waste as a feedstock. Following proposals last year from multiple international SAF producers, the airline and the government will jointly invest over NZ$2.2 million (US$1.35m) to evaluate the technical, economic, supply chain and environmental feasibility of production pathways offered by the two providers. LanzaTech transforms waste raw materials into low-carbon ethanol, which LanzaJet then converts into SAF through its alcohol-to-jet (AtJ) process, while Fulcrum converts landfill waste to low-carbon fuel through a combination of gasification and Fischer-Tropsch conversion technologies.

The selection of the two SAF producers was announced during the launch of New Zealand’s draft Tourism Environment Action Plan, designed to help reduce the emissions of country’s tourism sector, and adapt it to the challenges of climate change.

“Air New Zealand has a significant role to play in transitioning our economy to a lower-carbon future,” said the airline’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Kiri Hannifin. “Flying with SAF is a key part of this transition.”

Because New Zealand is geographically remote and heavily reliant on long-haul aviation, plentiful access to affordable SAF is considered critical. But because the fuel is in short supply globally and currently can only be sourced offshore, support is strong in New Zealand for local SAF production.

“Our climate is worsening at a rate far faster than predicted,” said Hannifin. “We all need to take immediate and drastic action to protect what we love, including our land, and all that depends on her. Commercially producing SAF in New Zealand would not only help to lower the country’s emissions while creating jobs, regional economic development and Maori and Iwi [indigenous] investment opportunities, but also provide energy security and energy independence, which is something New Zealand doesn’t have.”  

Air New Zealand is targeting net zero emissions by 2050 through initiatives including SAF use and the introduction of electric or hydrogen-powered regional aircraft, with at least one of the new propulsion technologies targeted for entry into commercial service as early as 2026. The airline has also committed that SAF will comprise 10% of its total jet fuel consumption by 2030, and last year imported its first supplies from European company Neste, which produces the fuel from waste fats, oils and greases.

The selection of the two US companies followed a year-long request for proposals from renewable fuel companies to demonstrate how they would viably establish and operate SAF plants at commercial scale in New Zealand. Evaluation of the two shortlisted companies is due to conclude early next year, with Air New Zealand committing over NZ$1.5 million (US$934,000) and the government NZ$765,000 (US$476,000) towards the dual assessments.

Jimmy Samartzis, Founding CEO of LanzaJet, said : “A sustainable fuels industry enables countries to gain energy independence with domestic production of fuels alongside infrastructure and economic development, while having a positive benefit on climate change – and that’s what we’re looking to enable in New Zealand.”

Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of Chicago-headquartered LanzaTech, which was founded in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2005, added: “We appreciate the leadership shown by Air New Zealand and the New Zealand government in enabling a future where domestic wastes and residues can be meaningfully repurposed, enabling energy security and regional growth opportunities.”

Focused mainly on forestry residues for the New Zealand project, LanzaTech will use its gas fermentation technology to transform waste into low-carbon ethanol, which will then be converted into SAF by LanzaJet, through its scaled-up AtJ process. The two will be supported by Z Energy, New Zealand’s largest retailer of fuel, to evaluate the SAF supply chain, including options for fuel feedstocks and economic impacts in regional areas.

Fulcrum BioEnergy transforms landfill waste to renewable fuels including SAF, by converting organic waste to “light, confetti-like feedstock”, which through gasification is converted to syngas, before being produced through the Fischer-Tropsch process into renewable fuel.

Late last year, at its Sierra BioFuels plant in the US, the company produced the first low-carbon fuel from converted landfill waste, which it claimed cleared the way for commercial production of up to 400 million gallons of renewable fuel per year. Among the company’s investors and customers are Cathay Pacific, United Airlines, Japan Airlines, bp and World Fuel Services, plus Japanese industrial group Marubeni Corporation.

Photo: Air New Zealand

UK leisure travel group Jet2, which comprises Jet2holidays and airline Jet2.com, has announced an equity investment in the sustainable aviation fuel plant to be built in north-west England by US-based waste-to-fuel producer Fulcrum BioEnergy. The NorthPoint facility will be constructed in the Essar Stanlow Manufacturing Complex in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, and is expected to start production in 2027. Once the plant achieves full capacity, Fulcrum plans to produce about 100 million litres of SAF per year by converting 600,000 tonnes of non-recyclable household waste, which otherwise would have to be incinerated or used as landfill. While details of the investment have not been disclosed, the Leeds-based airline is expected to source more than 200 million litres of SAF from the new facility over a 15-year period, an average of 13.3 million litres per year, or two full years of production.

The new plant is a partnership between Fulcrum BioEnergy, Essar Oil UK and Stanlow Terminals, an Essar subsidiary. Late last year, after more than a decade of development, Fulcrum succeeded in converting landfill waste into low-carbon synthetic crude oil at its Sierra BioFuels facility near Reno, Nevada, the world’s first commercial-scale waste-to-fuels production facility. “Landfill waste, or household garbage, is the most abundant, lowest-cost feedstock in the renewable fuels industry, with an existing and mature infrastructure for its collection and transport, providing an excellent, long-term source of feedstock,” the company said. “Landfill waste doesn’t need to be grown and it doesn’t need to be pulled from a well. The United States Environmental Protection Agency estimates that nearly 300 million tons of garbage is generated each year in the US. And it doesn’t have any competing uses.”

SAF will be manufactured by Fulcrum using a mix of gasification and Fischer-Tropsch conversion technologies, through which organic waste is turned into a light, confetti-like feedstock, which is then transformed into syngas, filtered to remove residual impurities and finally delivered as liquid fuel. Fulcrum will use the same patented production process at the UK plant, which it will build, own and operate within Essar’s complex, with the fuel company assisting with blending the SAF and supplying it to airlines. The project was boosted in February by a grant of £16.8 million ($21m) from the UK Department of Transport’s Advanced Fuels Fund.  

The commitment by Jet2 to Fulcrum’s UK facility follows investments in Fulcrum’s US parent by Cathay Pacific, United Airlines, BP, South Korean industrial group SK Innovation and a Japanese consortium led by industrial group Marubeni Corporation, and including Japan Airlines and the Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation. The Jet2-Fulcrum deal also continues a broader trend of investments by airlines in a range of SAF production projects to help build their own future fuel security, reduce emissions from their flights and increase production to help drive down the cost of SAF.

Jet2 said the SAF produced at Fulcrum’s new facility initially is expected to achieve lifecycle emissions reductions of 70% compared to fossil-based aircraft fuel. By using the UK-made SAF, Jet2.com expects to reduce its net emissions by about 400,000 tonnes of CO2 over the 15-year term of the supply deal, on top of other decarbonising measures including orders and options for up to 146 Airbus A320 and A321 neo jets. These aircraft are significantly more fuel-efficient than the airline’s current fleet, comprised mainly of Boeing 737-800s. Further efficiencies are expected to flow from the new plant’s close proximity to Manchester Airport, a major gateway for the airline, the UK’s third largest, enabling the SAF to be delivered via existing pipeline infrastructure instead of by road transport.

“Travel and tourism is a force for good and, like all industries, we know how critical it is to mitigate our climate impacts,” said Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2.com and Jet2 Holidays. “This significant investment in Fulcrum NorthPoint’s sustainable aviation fuel production in the UK shows not only how seriously we take that responsibility but also how committed we are to taking tangible actions to address it. This type of investment is critical if we are to get this technology up to the scale required to decarbonise the industry. Our investment is a very clear demonstration that we are backing SAF and the UK production of SAF early.”

Although the UK government had provided a grant to help develop the Northpoint plant, Heapy argued even more backing was needed. “We are calling on the government to scale up its level of ambition and support for SAF production,” he said. “Doing this will help achieve decarbonisation of the aviation sector, stimulate uptake and seize the enormous economic opportunity here in the UK.”

Jeff Ovens, Managing Director of Fulcrum BioEnergy UK, welcomed the Jet2 project-level investment as “a clear commitment to the development of a UK SAF industry.”

Graphic: Illustration of the future Fulcrum NorthPoint SAF plant

The United Kingdom government has opened the second application round of its £165 million ($205m) Advanced Fuels Fund that provides financial support for the construction of sustainable aviation fuel plants in the country. The grant funding is to be provided to first-of-a-kind commercial and demonstration scale projects at all development stages up to the start of construction. In the first round, five projects – Alfanar Energy (Lighthouse Green Fuels), LanzaTech UK (DRAGON), Fulcrum BioEnergy (NorthPoint) and Velocys (Altalto and e-Alto) – received funding totalling £82.3 million. The government is aiming to have five plants under construction by 2025 to help meet its proposed 10% mandate for SAF use by 2030. It has also launched a second consultation on the mandate, running until June 22, which sets out how the mandate will deliver carbon savings, provide incentives to SAF producers and encourage potential SAF investors. The government has also confirmed the University of Sheffield will deliver the first UK Clearing House to support the testing and certification of new SAF.

Announcing the moves, Aviation Minister Baroness Vere said: “This renewed support for sustainable aviation fuel is another step towards making Jet Zero a reality. Developing a UK SAF industry will not only put the country at the heart of green aviation worldwide, but also boost investment, jobs and fuel security in the UK.”

The government points to research indicating that by 2035, the UK SAF sector could generate a gross value added (GVA) of up to £742 million ($924m) annually and support up to 5,200 jobs, with a potential of a further 13,600 jobs from the growing SAF market through global exports. In addition, UK manufactured fuels could deliver a £550 million ($680m) per year benefit to the nation’s balance of payments and increase fuel security.

Selected projects in the Advanced Fuels Fund competition, which is being delivered with the support of Ricardo and E4Tech, are required to demonstrate their potential to produce SAF capable of reducing emissions by more than 70% on a lifecycle basis when used in place of conventional fossil jet fuel. As part of support for a diverse range of technologies that utilise a range of sustainable feedstocks, the fund will reserve a new ‘sub-pot’ of funding for the second window to support projects that use CO2 – either point source or direct air capture – as their main carbon source in fuel production. Projects that rely on crop feedstocks or used cooking oil are excluded from the competition. Announcement of the winners and start of the funding period for the second window is expected in September this year.

The purpose of the new SAF Mandate consultation is to seek views on:

• Overarching targets to be set for 2030 and beyond;
• Targets to supply power-to-liquid fuels and a cap on HEFA pathway fuels;
• A potential buy-out price, which determines the maximum incentive for supplying SAF;
• Eligible fuels and sustainability criteria;
• Design of the scheme including who the obligation applies to and how certificates will be issued, traded and used for compliance, and how the obligation will be discharged;
• The administrator and enforcement of the scheme; and
• Interactions with other domestic and international policymakers.

The UK’s commitment to net zero by 2050 requires a rapid decarbonisation of the economy, namely a 68% reduction in GHG emissions by 2030 and a 75% reduction by 2035 from 1990 levels, including international aviation and shipping emissions. Given the level of uncertainty surrounding alternative solutions to decarbonising aviation, SAF is seen as one of the key levers in the transition, along with the co-benefit it brings in reducing sulphur dioxide and particulate matter emissions, and potentially other non-CO2 impacts, including contrails.

The government says the long-term obligation provided by a SAF mandate can generate demand for SAF, provide an incentive to SAF producers (in the form of  tradeable credit) and signal to investors the vital role the technology will play in the UK. It recognises that SAF production relies on technology that is yet to be proven at scale, leading to high initial capital and operating costs and uncertainty on return on investment.

“Without a long-term regulatory and policy framework in place to support industry and provide certainty, these factors act as barriers to an investable proposition for technology developers and investors. Consequently, production capacity will continue to be limited in the UK,” it acknowledges. “A SAF blending mandate will guarantee a level of SAF demand that provides more certainty to investors, and as a result will increase production level and drive emissions reductions. Early intervention and support in this market will drive the industry to move faster than it otherwise would.”

In the absence of an obligation on SAF, supply in the UK is assumed by the Department for Transport (DfT) in its Cost Benefit Analysis accompanying the consultation to be low, given the lack of demand certainty, apart from some incentive provided by the UK ETS and CORSIA for airlines to use SAF. Uptake on a business-as-usual basis is assumed to reach 2% of jet fuel demand by 2030 and 10% by 2050.

Under the DfT’s central trajectory to 2040 (of three possible ambition options – low, central and high), the level of the mandate, as a proportion of UK aviation fuel use, begins at 2% in 2025, rising linearly to 10% in 2030. From there, it increases to 22% in 2040, on track for a 2050 ambition of 50%, in line with the ‘high ambition’ scenario from the government’s Jet Zero Strategy.

However, says the DfT, there are “substantial risks” around all of the considered options if there are insufficient feedstocks available to produce the required SAF, either domestically or via imports. “In all three trajectories, we do not expect all SAF claimed under the mandate to be produced domestically,” it says, noting that the UK currently imports 61% of its jet fuel.

The SAF mandate will place an obligation on suppliers of aviation fuel to demonstrate that a given proportion of fuel supplied is SAF, in line with the trajectories. Suppliers will receive credits for each tonne of SAF supplied, which will vary based on the GHG abatement each fuel provides relative to a baseline abatement of 70% compared to standard jet kerosene. Suppliers can meet their obligation in three ways:

• The obligation can be met entirely through the supply of SAF.
• Fuel suppliers who exceed their obligation can sell excess credits to those suppliers who do not meet their obligation.
• Suppliers can buy out of their obligation by paying a fixed sum per credit of fuel not supplied.

The buy-out price is proposed as a core part of the mandate policy, to incentivise compliance with the mandate whilst also serving as a price cap on the cost to industry and consumers where the supply of SAF is not possible or too costly. Setting the buy-out price at the correct level is critical to ensure compliance with the mandate, says the DfT. If set too low then suppliers may choose to buy out instead of supplying SAF but if too high, any supplier unable to meet their obligation through the supply of SAF will face a large cost burden that in turn would place an undue financial strain on industry and, by extension, consumers.

The buy-out price can be calculated, says the DfT, as the cost per credit of the most expensive SAF pathway less the cost to supply kerosene. “Using the most expensive fuel pathway will ensure SAF fuel suppliers will be fully incentivised to meet the obligation,” it says, and is suggesting a buy-out price of £2/litre, or £2,657 per tonne.

A separate mandate for power-to-liquid (PtL) fuels requires a separate buy-out price and as they are a more costly fuel type, a higher buy-out price is needed, with the DfT proposing a central buy-out price of £2.75/litre, or £3,525 per tonne.

The government proposes that civil penalties be imposed on an obligated supplier or account holder applying for certificates if they fail to meet certain criteria. It is seeking views and supporting analysis on whether a minimum fuel uplift requirement on flights departing a UK airport should be introduced to discourage airlines from taking on extra fuel for inbound flights to avoid having to refuel in the UK for cost reasons, a practice known as tankering.

The DfT expects airlines will pass on at least some of the SAF purchasing costs to consumers in the form of increased ticket prices. The actual ticket price impacts of the SAF mandate policy will depend in part on the options chosen relating to the trajectory, buy-out price, HEFA cap and PtL target.

“As this consultation does not set out a preferred option on these elements, we are not able to set out central estimates of the ticket price impacts at this stage but hope to do so alongside the government response to the consultation,” says the DfT. “Impact on ticket prices will be an important factor when making decisions about the SAF mandate.”

In the short term, the DfT is expecting SAF production to be heavily focused in the developed nations but in the medium to long term, nations with cheaper access to renewable energy and currently un-utilised feedstocks will be a key part of the international SAF mix and global SAF production will ramp up quickly. Around 8 million litres of SAF were produced and used globally in 2016, compared to 300 million litres in 2022 and an expected 5 billion litres (4 million tonnes) by 2025. The DfT estimates there are currently 41.6 billion litres (33 million tonnes) under offtake agreements, “giving planned plants higher levels of certainty in the future demand for their product.”

The UK’s first SAF Clearing House is due to open this summer and will be led by the Energy Institute at the University of Sheffield. It will be based across the university’s Sustainable Aviation Fuels Innovation Centre (SAF-IC) and Translational Energy Research Centre (TERC), where academics and industry will work together to develop new low and zero-carbon fuels and technologies.

Any new aviation fuel must meet strict specifications before it can be certified as safe for use in aircraft and must undergo stages of testing against a process to meet the required ASTM standard. The cost of this testing is a significant barrier to new fuels entering the market and the Clearing House will give advice to fuel producers on testing, provide assistance with testing facilities and facilitate fuel certification.

“This significant and much-needed addition to the UK’s decarbonisation landscape will help to reduce barriers to SAF delivery and will take a vital step on the journey to make SAF a viable solution for the future of aviation,” commented Professor Mohamed Pourkashanian, Head of the Energy Institute.

“With our world-class sustainable aviation fuels research and testing facilities at SAF-IC, as well as the significant amount of sustainable power-to-liquids capabilities at the neighbouring TERC, we are ideally placed to drive forward the much-needed development, testing and delivery of SAF.”

Photo: Heathrow Airport

Christopher Surgenor

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London’s Heathrow Airport is making available a £38 million ($46m) fund to encourage airlines using the airport to power their aircraft in part by sustainable aviation fuel, with the incentive aimed at covering up to 50% of the extra cost of SAF compared to conventional jet fuel. The oversubscribed incentive scheme started in 2022 with six airlines participating and Heathrow is now aiming to triple the percentage of SAF used this year to 1.5% and become one of the world’s leading airport users of SAF. English airports are targeted by the UK government to be zero-emission by 2040 and a second consultation has been opened by the Department for Transport (DfT) that aims to gather more information and feedback on the scope of the 2040 goal and the route for implementation. In other UK news, the DfT has announced the five winning proposals for a share of the Advanced Fuels Fund competition, aimed at developing SAF production plants in the UK, and Birmingham Airport and ZeroAvia are to partner on zero-emission flights.

Heathrow says it is the first airport in the world to offer airlines a contribution towards making the extra cost of purchasing SAF and participants in the scheme include IAG, Virgin Atlantic, United Airlines, Air France, KLM and JetBlue. The airport says it is committed to progressively increasing the SAF used each year, with the aim of reaching 11% of all fuel by 2030. This year, the incentive is expected to save over 81,000 tonnes of CO2.

“Team Heathrow is now probably the biggest user of SAF in the world, but it is currently all imported,” said the airport’s outgoing CEO, John Holland-Kaye. “If Britain really wants to compete with the scale of ambition and the credible action seen from the US and Europe, supportive government policy is needed, and it is needed now.”

Heathrow says the introduction of the Inflation Reduction Act in the United States, which includes a tax credit scheme, “is designed to lure SAF investors to America and leaving the UK at risk of missing out on the multi-billion-pound industry.” It is calling for a Contracts for Difference price support mechanism to help cut the price premium and for the UK government to make a decision this year on committing into legislation a 10% mandate for SAF use by 2030.

“Delay could mean the UK SAF industry suffers and cannot keep up internationally,” argues Heathrow. “By delivering both, the UK will see an immediate and tangible impact – with investment, jobs and skills seen right across the UK.”

While details of the proposed SAF mandate are due to be published shortly (see article), which will require having at least five commercial-scale plants under construction in the UK by 2025 to meet the mandate’s target, the government has announced five awards under its £165 million ($200m) Advanced Fuel Fund that will allocate funding to support UK advanced fuels projects until March 2025. The grant funding is to be provided to first-of-a-kind commercial and demonstration scale projects at all development stages up to the start of construction.

With regards to a second application window for the fund, DfT is still considering whether or when further funding windows should proceed. In the event of a second application window, the competition would be open to all eligible projects and not just those already selected.

The five projects receiving funding in the first window are:

• Alfanar Energy (Lighthouse Green Fuels) – £11,001,00
• Fulcrum BioEnergy (NorthPoint) – £16,764,000
• LanzaTech UK (DRAGON) – £24,960,843
• Velocys (Altalto) – £27,000,000
• Velocys (e-Alto) – £2,523,094

Commenting on its award, Fulcrum CEO Eric Pryor said: “We applaud the UK government and the DfT for taking another step towards significantly reducing net carbon emissions for hard-to-abate sectors, including aviation, through the support of low-carbon SAF projects, including our Fulcrum NorthPoint facility. This funding furthers our engineering efforts for the plant and well positions Fulcrum for additional project funding for the facility. We look forward to bringing our patented process, technical expertise, IP and experience from the successful commissioning and initial operations of our first commercial-scale plant [in the US] to the UK to make Fulcrum NorthPoint a success.”

In December, Fulcrum announced the successful production of low-carbon synthetic crude oil from landfill waste at its world’s first commercial-scale waste-to-fuels Sierra BioFuels Plant, located in Nevada. The company’s development programme includes plants in Indiana, Texas and the NorthPoint project in the UK.

In other UK airport news, the government is keen to accelerate decarbonisation of airport operations, which would have the co-benefit of significantly decreasing harmful nitrogen and particulate matter concentrations around airports. The government’s Jet Zero strategy calls for domestic aviation to achieve net zero emissions by 2040 and for all airports in England – other UK countries have devolved powers – to be zero-emission by the same year.

According to a decarbonisation report by the UK Airport Operators Association, over two-thirds of airports in England have a zero emissions target for 2040. However, the DfT notes from responses to its first consultation in 2021 “a mixed feedback” on the target, with comments largely around why airports should be treated differently to other similar infrastructure. Some airports suggested a net zero airport operations target may be more appropriate for 2040, rather than zero emissions. On the other hand, some NGOs, environmental groups and consultancies considered the target could be more ambitious and include Scope 3 indirect emissions that an airport does not control but can influence.

The DfT subsequently commissioned Mott MacDonald to undertake a technical feasibility study to support its understanding of the achievability of the 2040 target. The study’s report, published last May, agreed that it was feasible from a technology and commercial perspective for airports to achieve zero carbon emissions from Scope 1, 2 and 3 airport operations by 2040.

The aim of the second consultation, which closes on May 2, is to clearly define which airport operations are and are not in scope, considering the emission sources and responsible entities. The government is also looking at several policy implementation options to achieve the target: a legislative requirement, a voluntary agreement or a commitment by each airport to produce a roadmap to achieve zero emissions by 2040.

“A key aim will be to guarantee that any approach ensures that the optimum outcome is achieved in terms of emissions reductions under the target, while ensuring unnecessary burden on airport operators and other stakeholders is avoided,” says the DfT.

Meanwhile, the UK’s Birmingham Airport has entered a long-term partnership with hydrogen-electric aviation pioneer ZeroAvia that will aim to make possible regular domestic zero-emission flights “in the coming years”. The airport plans to use an area near to its disused terminal building as a potential location for hydrogen refuelling infrastructure, testing and operations.

ZeroAvia is currently working on bringing to market a zero-emission system capable of flying 20-seat aircraft 300 nautical miles by 2025, making possible green air travel from Birmingham to destinations like Glasgow, Aberdeen, Belfast and Dublin. It is aiming for an emissions-free, 80-seat aircraft flying up to 1,000 nautical miles by 2027, bringing into range Mediterranean holiday destinations.

The airport said the partnership formed an important part of its journey to becoming a net zero airport by 2033, a target it set out in its carbon roadmap published in 2022.

“Birmingham Airport can be a central spoke in a green flight network in the UK, given that any domestic mainland destination will be reachable from the airport using our first systems in 2025,” said Arnab Chatterjee, VP Infrastructure, ZeroAvia. “Given the commitments of the Jet Zero strategy on domestic aviation, it is fantastic to engage with forward thinking airports that want to be early innovators and developers to deliver the vision of bringing truly clean, quiet and pollution-free flights to the UK.”

Responded the airport’s Chief Finance & Sustainability Officer, Simon Richards: “We could, quite conceivably, see the first hydrogen-powered domestic passenger flight taking off from BHX in a few years. That’s mind-blowing.”

Photo: Heathrow Airport

Christopher Surgenor

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United Airlines Ventures (UAV) has announced an investment in New York-based Dimensional Energy, the airline group’s fourth move into sustainable aviation fuel production, and its first into power-to-liquid (PtL) technology, in which carbon dioxide is transformed into SAF. United has also agreed to purchase at least 300 million gallons of SAF from Dimensional over 20 years, adding to multiple existing agreements that the airline claims add up to the biggest collective SAF commitment by any airline. The deal caps off a flurry of fresh SAF announcements across the US, from Hawaii to New York, as the air transport industry intensifies efforts to cut its carbon emissions. A project involving Delta Air Lines and Neste is now delivering SAF through fuel pipeline systems direct to New York LaGuardia. Meanwhile, there have been renewed calls from across the US aviation sector for greater government incentives to expedite and increase the availability of affordable supplies of SAF, reports Tony Harrington.

Dimensional Energy converts carbon dioxide and water into usable ingredients for the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process that can turn those elements and others into liquid fuels. While this system has been widely used to create fossil fuels, Dimensional claims it will be one of the first to produce sustainable aviation fuels from the process. Last year, the company’s activities attracted funding from climate technology investor Elemental Excelerator, through which it was introduced to United, which wants to cut emissions directly rather than through offsets.

“Sometimes you have to look to the past to solve new problems and we recognise that decarbonising air travel is going to require combining proven technologies, such as Fischer-Tropsch, with the latest advances in science and engineering,” said United Airlines Ventures President Michael Leskinen. “As we grow our portfolio of companies like Dimensional, we are creating opportunities to scale these early-stage technologies and achieve United’s commitment to carbon neutrality by 2050, without the use of traditional carbon offsets.”

UAV has already invested in SAF producer Alder Fuels, from which United Airlines will acquire up to 1.5 billion gallons of SAF, while United itself has bought into Fulcrum Bioenergy, together with an option to buy up to 900 million gallons of SAF. As well, UAV recently invested in Cemvita Factory, a US-based synthetic biology company which is planning SAF production.

Dimensional says it can transform carbon dioxide from sources including direct emissions from industrial sites, direct air capture and biological paths including fermentation and biomass gasification, providing United with some protection from the constraints of feedstock availability affecting other biofuel pathways. Last year, in Tucson, Arizona, the company began constructing a CO2-to-fuels facility, part-powered by locally-produced renewable energy, and expects to begin operating next month.

”United’s support of sustainable aviation fuel made from captured emissions is an important step in the aviation industry’s pursuit of carbon neutrality,” said Jason Salfi, CEO and joint founder of Dimensional Energy. “We envision a world run on truly conflict-free energy that can scale to meet the global demand for hydrocarbon fuels and feedstocks.”

Meanwhile, competitor Delta Air Lines was one of four participants in a milestone project to deliver the first supplies of SAF to New York’s LaGuardia Airport using existing infrastructure. The fuel was processed in Texas by waste-to-SAF producer Neste, then transported via the Colonial and Buckeye pipeline systems to the airport to power a Delta flight. “SAF is the most effective tool we have to decarbonise our industry,” said Delta’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Pamela Fletcher. “These efforts show how existing infrastructure can be used to transport SAF to east coast airports and drive down emissions, a critical step as we move toward a more sustainable future for air travel.”   

The fuel was loaded by Neste into the Colonial Pipeline and pumped almost 1,500 miles to New Jersey, where it was transferred into the Buckeye Pipeline which feeds LaGuardia Airport. “The US east coast is home to some of the USA’s busiest airports and the vast majority of them get their fuel from the Colonial Pipeline system and, in New York, the Buckeye Pipeline system,” added Chris Cooper, Neste’s VP of Renewable Aviation in the Americas. “What we’re doing here is showing that just around the corner is a future where passengers at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson, up to LaGuardia, JFK (Kennedy Airport) and EWR (Newark Airport) can board a plane flying on SAF.”

Delta and Neste have called for additional government policy settings and supply chain incentives in the US to increase production pf SAF, while driving down its cost. Announcing the LaGuardia initiative, they said: “A SAF Blender’s Tax Credit, for example, that is technology and raw material-neutral, will even the playing field between SAF and fossil jet fuel. At the state level, a Low Carbon Fuel Standard with voluntary opt-in provisions for SAF will provide a policy framework with a proven track record to incentivise SAF production and speed the development of cleaner infrastructure, supporting healthier environments for our communities.”

In Los Angeles, alongside the IX Summit of the Americas, at a roundtable event they hosted on sustainable air transport, industry body IATA and Boeing also ramped up pressure on governments to support SAF production with incentives.

”To reach the industry’s net zero goal, governmental support is critical to developing policies that efficiently accelerate the commercial production and deployment of SAF,” said Peter Cerdá, IATA’s Regional VP for the Americas.

Landon Loomis, Boeing’s VP Latin America, Caribbean and Global Policy, added: “The message from the experts at the roundtable is clear. In addition to a sector-wide partnership, it takes policy commitments, technology deployment and infrastructure efficiency improvements to achieve the industry’s commitment to reach decarbonisation by mid-century.”

Corresponding with the event, Boeing and seven airlines – Aeromexico, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, COPA Airlines, Delta, United and WestJet – collectively bought 100,000 gallons of SAF (379,000 litres) from World Energy to part-power flights from Los Angeles International Airport, collectively cutting their CO2 emissions by around 472,000 pounds (214.3 tonnes).

In a message to the roundtable, John Kerry, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, said: “Reducing emissions from hard to decarbonise sectors like aviation is essential to tackling climate change. I am encouraged by the commitment of airlines worldwide to scale up the use of sustainable aviation fuels, which have the potential to not only significantly reduce emissions in-sector but also to provide economic opportunity.”

As part of its 2022 ecoDemonstrator programme, Boeing will fly one of its own 777-200ER aircraft using a 30/70 SAF blend for all test flights. During the next six months of flight and ground tests, Boeing will evaluate around 30 new technologies aimed at improving sustainability and safety for the aerospace industry, including a water conservation system to reduce aircraft weight and fuel, and technologies to improve operational efficiency.

Separately in Honolulu, Hawaiian Airlines announced a partnership with Par Hawaii, one of the state’s largest energy providers, to explore the viability of developing SAF in the islands from sustainable crops, while in Houston, Texas, renewable energy start-up No Carbon Air announced plans to produce sustainable aviation fuel, hydrogen fuel, and other green energy sources through Fischer-Tropsch conversion of landfill materials including municipal solid waste, hazardous materials, tyres, waste coal, sludges and other waste streams. The company’s CEO, Bill Smith, said the waste, once converted to synthetic gas, would be processed through an FT system capable of producing 3,000 gallons of sustainable jet fuel per day, or 1 million gallons per year.

Photo: United Airlines

United Airlines has operated the first-ever passenger flight with an engine using 100% sustainable aviation fuel. In a partnership with Boeing, CFM International, Virent and World Energy, yesterday’s flight of a new Boeing 737 MAX 8 from Chicago O’Hare to Washington DC’s Reagan National Airport carried 100 passengers. Commercial passenger flights are currently permitted to fly with a maximum of only 50% SAF in their engines but United and their partners received special authorisation from the FAA for the one-off demonstration flight because of the use of Virent’s synthetic aromatic kerosene (SAK) in the fuel blend, which was first used in a United test flight in October. The airline has also announced new corporate participants in its Eco-Skies Alliance corporate programme launched in April this year that has now collectively contributed towards the purchase of more than 7 million gallons of SAF. United claims its SAF purchase commitments are nearly twice the size of those by the rest of the global airline industry combined.

“We continue to lead from the front when it comes to climate change action,” said United CEO Scott Kirby, a passenger on the ORD-DCA flight. “Today’s SAF flight is not only a significant milestone for efforts to decarbonise our industry, but when combined with the surge in commitments to produce and purchase alternative fuels, we’re demonstrating the scalable and impactful way companies can join together and play a role in addressing the biggest challenge of our lifetimes.”

An important reason for the 50% maximum permitted SAF use in commercial flights is the absence of aromatic compounds from the HEFA-based SAF in use today. The minimum aromatic content in conventional jet kerosene is about 8% on average and in common jet engines the aromatic content encourages the seals to swell, so providing more protection from leakage. When operating with SAF, the lack of aromatics can be overcome by adding them to the fuel or blending it with conventional jet fuel, although concentrations of aromatics should be minimised to reduce carbon emissions.

The SAF used for the United test flight in October, and for yesterday’s passenger flight, was a mix of Virent’s BioForm SAK and World Energy’s HEFA synthetic paraffinic kerosene (SPK). This accounts for the lower aromatic content in the SPK made through HEFA pathways, while still enabling a blend that is 0% fossil fuel-derived and a 100% drop-in ready with no aircraft or engine modification required, said United.

SAK is produced at Virent’s demonstration plant in Madison, Wisconsin, using corn dextrose from Iowa, and the company is targeting a greater than 50% reduction in lifecycle GHG emissions. Virent’s parent company, Marathon Petroleum, provided testing, blending and transportation of the 100% SAF for the United flights. Virent has also developed data from engine testing that shows a SAK/HEFA blend is cleaner burning and has lower particulate matter emissions than conventional jet fuels.

“Showing Virent’s BioForm SAK enables a 100% SAF that meets current jet fuel specifications is a big step, as it demonstrates that SAF can be a reality without the need to make significant changes to the current aviation fleet and infrastructure,” said Dave Kettner, Virent President and General Counsel, after the October test flight. “Virent’s proprietary technology demonstrates that SAF can be 100% renewable and 100% compatible with our current aviation fleet and infrastructure.”

United recently agreed to purchase 1.5 billion gallons of SAF from startup Alder Fuels, which the airline says is enough to fly more than 57 million passengers. Alder Fuels, headed by former World Energy CCO Bryan Sherbacow, recently announced a strategic alliance with government of Colombia to source biomass feedstock for conversion into sustainable low-carbon crude used for producing SAF.

The airline is also an investor in Fulcrum BioEnergy, in which it has an option to purchase up to 900 million gallons of SAF.

United has nearly 30 participants in its Eco-Skies Alliance programme, including 12 new participants such as Maersk, Meta, Microsoft, Salesforce and Visa. The collective purchase this year of more than 7 million gallons of SAF, with 80% GHG emissions reductions on a lifecycle basis, is enough to eliminate around 66,000 tonnes of CO2e emissions, or enough to fly passengers more than 460 million miles, says United. To build transparency and enable certified SAF emission reductions for its corporate customers, the airline recently partnered with Microsoft, Air bp and the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials in a first-ever book and claim pilot (see article).

Photo: Fuelling United’s 100% SAF flight

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Eight proposed sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) projects have been shortlisted by the UK’s Department for Transport (DfT) to share up to £15 million ($20m) in grant funding to support early-stage development of large-scale SAF production plants in the UK. All selected projects have the potential to reduce emissions by more than 70% on a lifecycle basis when used in place of conventional fossil jet fuel, said the DfT. The plants plan to produce jet fuel from a variety of sources including sewage; household and commercial waste; alcohol derived from wastes; and from captured atmospheric carbon dioxide. Organisations standing to gain from the funding include Velocys, Fulcrum BioEnergy, LanzaTech, Lanzajet, Advanced Biofuel Solutions, Alfanar Energy, Green Fuels Research, Nova Pangaea and Carbon Engineering, with a few of the projects shortlisted still at their feasibility stage.

Research carried out for the DfT indicates that by 2040 the SAF sector could generate between £0.7 billion and £1.66 billion a year for the UK economy, with potentially half of this coming from the export of intellectual property and the provision of engineering services. Between 5,000 and 11,000 green jobs could also be created across the nation and SAF production could also increase UK fuel security.

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.

The eight projects are understood to be assured of funding with the amounts to each to be announced very shortly and subject to contract. The bulk of the funding will go to those projects in the pre-FEED or FEED phase with around £2 million expected to be awarded to those in their feasibility stage. The GFGS funding period is a fixed term from August to the end of March 2022.

Sean Doyle, CEO of British Airways, which is involved in four of the projects, commented: “We’re determined to transform the sustainability of our industry and this potential GFGS government funding is critical in helping us to show the feasibility of building SAF plants. These plants would be a game-changer for our industry, not only delivering SAF but also creating many hundreds of highly skilled jobs while increasing economic growth around the UK.”

Henrik Wareborn, CEO of Velocys, which benefited from funding under the government’s £20 million F4C competition held in 2017, said: “We welcome this new funding as it will help bring Altalto closer to the production of SAF. The GFGS initiative highlights the importance of building SAF facilities throughout the country that will help the UK not only to meet the targets set but also make a quantifiable impact on climate change.”

Added Jimmy Samartzis, CEO of US-based LanzaJet, which is partnering on one of the shortlisted projects with British Airways and Nova Pangaea, said: “Together, we are grateful to the Prime Minister and DfT for their support in advancing the production of SAF in the UK.”

The Green Fuels Research (GFR) project with Petrofac and Cranfield University will demonstrate an integrated route to SAF using sewage sludge as feedstock and encompasses engineering design and construction of a UK demonstration plant capable of generating the quantities of fuel to allow certification to international standards. This in turn, says GFR, will lead to a first-of-a-kind commercial refinery and roll-out to several locations where airports, pipeline terminals and wastewater treatment works are in close proximity. The company says around 53 million tonnes per annum of untreated sewage sludge are collected in the UK from about 8,500 wastewater treatment works.

Commenting on the competition announcement, Green Fuels CEO James Hygate said: “We’re delighted to have this opportunity to prove the environmental and commercial viability of the FIREFLY route, which integrates several existing technologies into a sustainable industrial process. Among many advantages, FIREFLY will use fully biogenic feedstock which will emit no fossil carbon, won’t contribute to deforestation or compete with food production, and will not rely on imports with long, high-emission supply chains. And perhaps most importantly, we expect to demonstrate exceptional carbon savings, meaning this is potentially a very fast route to decarbonising aviation that won’t rely on as yet unknown technologies.”

The competition has been managed by consultants Ricardo and once the funding has been distributed, it will monitor the eight projects on behalf of the DfT.

“We have been amazed by the diversity and creativity of the entries,” said Alexandra Humphris-Bach, Ricardo Principal Consultant. “All the selected projects have a clear potential to produce SAF capable of reducing emissions by more than 70% on a lifecycle basis, when used in place of a conventional fossil jet fuel.”

The UK’s 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 less than 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.”

Photo: British Airways is involved in four of the eight shortlisted projects

With a conditional order for 100 Heart Aerospace ES-19 airliners, United Airlines has placed another big bet on the future size and shape of its aircraft fleet, with an emphasis on electrically powered airliners and investments in what it has described as “emerging technologies that decarbonise air travel”. The US major announced an agreement to acquire 100 ES-19s, a 19-seater being developed by Sweden’s Heart Aerospace, while its regional partner Mesa Airlines placed its own conditional order for a further 100 units. This is United’s second commitment to electric aircraft, reports Mark Pilling. In February it revealed a deal with air mobility company Archer to help it develop the US start-up’s electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft designed as an air taxi in urban markets. United and Mesa said they would buy up to 200 of Archer’s electric aircraft if it met the “operating and business requirements” of the carriers. Another start-up, ZeroAvia has also secured extra funding to accelerate its ambitions to develop a hydrogen-electric 50-seater regional aircraft.

Echoing the Archer eVTOL commitment, United and Mesa have “conditionally agreed to purchase 100 ES-19 aircraft [each], once the aircraft meet United’s safety, business and operating requirements”. United Airlines said it has invested an undisclosed sum in start-up Heart Aerospace through its new corporate venture capital fund, United Airlines Ventures (UAV). Also investing is Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV), a fund that backs firms with emission reduction strategies in various industries, and Mesa Airlines.

“Breakthrough Energy Ventures is the leading voice of investors who are supporting clean-energy technology creation. We share their view that we have to build companies who have real potential to change how industries operate and, in our case, that means investing in companies like Heart Aerospace who are developing a viable electric airliner,” said Michael Leskinen, United’s VP Corporate Development & Investor Relations, as well as UAV’s President. “We recognise that customers want even more ownership of their own carbon emissions footprint. We are proud to partner with Mesa Air Group to bring electric aircraft to our customers earlier than any other US airline. Mesa’s long-serving CEO, Jonathan Ornstein has shown visionary leadership in the field of electric-powered flight.” Ornstein is an advisor to Heart Aerospace.

UAV and BEV are among the first investors in Heart Aerospace, demonstrating confidence in Heart’s design and creating potential for the company to fast track the ES-19 introduction to market. Heart, which is based in Gothenburg, Sweden, is aiming for the ES-19 to be certified for commercial operations by 2026. The high-wing 19-seater will feature four wing-mounted propellers powered by lithium-ion batteries and will have a range of 400km.

“Electric aircraft are happening now—the technology is already here,” said Anders Forslund, CEO of Heart Aerospace. “I can’t imagine a stronger coalition of partners to advance our mission to electrify short-haul air travel.”

Aviation is a critical piece of the global economy, said Carmichael Roberts, Business Lead, Investment Committee at Breakthrough Energy, which was founded in 2015 by Microsoft’s Bill Gates and a coalition of private investors concerned about the impacts of accelerating climate change. “At the same time, it’s a major source of carbon emissions and one of the most difficult sectors to decarbonise. We believe electric aircraft can be transformational in reducing the emissions of the industry, and enable low-cost, quiet and clean regional travel on a broad scale. Heart’s visionary team is developing an aircraft around its proprietary electric motor technology that will allow airlines to operate at a fraction of the cost of today and has the potential to change the way we fly.”

According to United, the ES-19 could operate on more than 100 of United’s regional routes out of most of its hubs. Some of these routes include Chicago O’Hare International Airport to Purdue University Airport and San Francisco International Airport to Modesto City-County Airport.

“We expect the short-haul regional air travel market to play a key role in the evolution of the electric aircraft.  As battery technology improves, larger-gauge aircraft should become viable but we’re not going to wait to begin the journey,” said Leskinen of United. “That’s why we’re looking forward to beginning our work with Heart, so that together, we can scale the availability of electric airliners and use them for passenger flights within the next five years.”

Over the past several months, United has carried out a series of ambitious moves. In late June the airline made what it said was its largest ever order, and biggest by a single carrier in decade, for 200 Boeing Max 737s and 70 Airbus A321neos. In early June, just weeks before the major announcement to upgrade its short-haul fleet, United said it would buy 15 supersonic 65-88 seat Overture jetliners from Boom Aerospace.

On the sustainability front, in April United announced the formation of its Eco-Skies Alliance programme which “allows corporate customers the opportunity to pay the additional cost for sustainable aviation fuel”. Last December, United announced a multi-million dollar investment in direct air capture (DAC) technology rather than purchasing carbon credits to offset residual emissions. The investment is being made in 1PointFive, a partnership between Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, a subsidiary of Occidental, and Rusheen Capital Management, which is using technology licensed from Carbon Engineering in the first industrial-sized DAC plant in the United States. United is also one of the largest off-takers of sustainable aviation fuel and has invested $30 million in SAF producer Fulcrum BioEnergy, which has just completed construction of its first-of-a-kind Sierra municipal solid waste to jet fuel plant in Nevada

Although it does not have airline commitments yet, another start-up, ZeroAvia, recently announced it had raised additional funding and secured two aircraft for research and development of clean hydrogen-electric aviation. The company will use two twin-engine 19-seat Dornier 228 aircraft – one in the UK and one in the US, acquired from Aurigny and AMC Aviation.

ZeroAvia’s 19-seat aircraft development project is part of HyFlyer II, the second ZeroAvia-led project backed by the UK government to target the development of a hydrogen fuel cell powertrain. As part of HyFlyer I, ZeroAvia said it successfully demonstrated a 250kW powerplant in a six-seat aircraft across three flight test campaigns, achieving all the project’s technical goals, including fuel cell-only cruise flight. The learnings of HyFlyer I will be utilised in the development of a 600kW 19-seater powerplant in HyFlyer II.

 ZeroAvia has also secured an additional £9.3 million ($13 million) for its 50+ seat engine development programme from AP Ventures, an investor in breakthrough technologies across the hydrogen value chain, Alumni Ventures Group, SGH Capital, Agartha Fund LP, and existing investors Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Summa Equity, Shell Ventures, SYSTEMIQ and Horizons Ventures. This new funding complements the initial investment of $24 million the company announced earlier this year, bringing the total private investment into ZeroAvia’s large engine development for 50+ seat aircraft to $37 million.

“We are eager and ready to begin testing our hydrogen-electric powertrain technology on a larger commercial-size aircraft, and grateful to our investors and grant funders for their continued support of our vision for sustainable aviation,” said Val Miftakhov, Founder and CEO at ZeroAvia. “Various projections indicate that aviation may account for over 25% of human-induced climate effects by 2050. We are on the path to helping reverse that trend, first with our successful six-seater testing and now with the R&D for our 19-seater, and the kick-off of our 50+ seat programme. Hydrogen is the only practical solution for true climate-neutral flight, and it will become a commercial reality much sooner than many predict.”

Image: Heart Aerospace ES-19 in United Express livery, the regional brand of United Airlines

Mark Pilling

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US waste-to-jet fuel technology company Fulcrum BioEnergy has announced plans to create a new £600 million ($800m) facility in North-West England that will convert non-recyclable household waste into around 100 million litres (26.4m US gallons) of low-carbon sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) annually. Fulcrum is joining forces with Essar Oil UK, an energy company whose main asset is the Stanlow Manufacturing Complex, situated south of the Mersey Estuary, with one of the most advanced refineries in Europe that produces over 16% of the UK’s road transport fuels. The new plant, named Fulcrum NorthPoint, will be located within Stanlow and is expected to supply SAF to airports such as Manchester. Fulcrum will construct, own and operate the plant, which will convert several hundred thousand tonnes of pre-processed, non-recyclable waste into SAF. As well as providing the site, Essar will assist with the blending and supply to airlines, and subsidiary Stanlow Terminals will provide product storage and logistics solutions for the project under a long-term agreement. Fulcrum is the second US company in a week to indicate SAF production expansion plans in the UK.

Founded in 2007, Fulcrum is currently commissioning what it says will be the world’s first commercial waste-to-transportation fuels plant in Nevada, which is expecting to start production later this year with a capacity of 11 million gallons per year. The company has already secured investment from BP, Cathay Pacific and United Airlines and Stanlow will be its first plant outside the United States.

“We are excited to be announcing this project, located within one of the UK’s most important energy producing assets, which will help reduce the burden on landfills and industry’s reliance on fossil fuels,” said Jeff Ovens, Managing Director, UK & Europe for Fulcrum.

Plans for Fulcrum NorthPoint are expected to be completed towards the end of this year or early 2022, said the company, and, subject to planning consent, could be operational in late 2025.

Stanlow was acquired by Indian conglomerate Essar from Shell in 2011 and is the second largest oil refinery in the UK, with a capacity of 12,000 million tonnes per year, including production of 2 billion litres of jet fuel that mostly goes to Manchester Airport. Essar Oil UK is a portfolio business of Essar Global Fund, whose companies have aggregate revenues of $12 billion a year.

“Our sights are firmly set on helping to drive the UK’s decarbonisation strategy,” said Essar Oil UK CEO Stein Ivar Bye. “This landmark development supports our long-term sustainability ambition to deliver the energy solutions of the future and position Stanlow as the UK’s leading sustainable aviation fuel hub.”

The venture will fit into Essar’s wider objective to build a green energy industrial cluster at the Stanlow site, which announced recently its participation in the production of blue hydrogen under the HyNet North West project. As the UK’s first low-carbon hydrogen hub, HyNet will initially deliver 3 terawatt-hours of hydrogen annually from 2025 to industry, including Essar, and to fuel buses, trains and vehicles as well as home heating. Natural gas and fuel gases from the Stanlow refinery will be converted into low-carbon hydrogen, with CO2 captured and stored offshore.

Stanlow Terminals is the newest and largest third-party liquid storage business in the UK, controlling 3 million cubic metres of capacity. It will provide dedicated tank capacity for the storage and blending of fuel products from Fulcrum NorthPoint and will also utilise direct pipeline access to pump and transport the SAF to airports through the Manchester Jet Line and the UK Oil Pipeline network.

“By offering efficient low-carbon logistics solutions to develop third-party business, we support diversification of the traditional refinery business and become a fundamental part of the UK drive to become carbon neutral,” said Patrick Walters, CEO of Stanlow Terminals.

Fulcrum claims lifecycle emission reductions of around 70% compared to conventional crude oil result from its propriety process, with a local air quality benefit of a 90% reduction in particulates. The 100 million litres of SAF expected to be produced at Fulcrum NorthPoint compares with 60 million litres that the BA/Velocys Altalto facility in North-East England is planning to produce from household and commercial waste.

“Utilising the world-class facilities at Essar, including the impressive jet fuel storage facility at Stanlow Terminals and direct pipeline to UK airports, Fulcrum, along with its current and future investors, will be able to build and operate its facility more efficiently,” said Ovens. “It sets the ‘gold standard’ for SAF production by fully integrating its new, low-carbon fuel technology directly within an existing refinery.

“Locating this facility in the north-west of England at a strategic location will create new, skilled jobs while simultaneously contributing to the UK’s Net Zero 2050 objectives.”

The project will create around 800 direct and indirect jobs during the design, build and commissioning process and over 100 permanent jobs during operation.

Commenting on the announcement, UK Aviation Minister Robert Courts said: “This is great news for the North-West, with hundreds of jobs created as the region takes the lead in making aviation greener. I hope this is a sign of great things to come as we look forward to a sustainable low-carbon future for aviation, helping us push forward towards our 2050 net-zero target.”

Ovens told GreenAir that no other partners or offtake customers are as yet involved with the project and Fulcrum is providing the investment and managing all engineering activity during the initial planning and definition phase. He said potential equity investment will likely be discussed with Essar at a later stage.

“Once we’ve reached a number of milestones associated with the development, we will invite interest from parties such as Essar and our other partners,” explained Ovens. “In the near-term, though, it will solely be a Fulcrum-managed development. We will have discussions with potential airline customers when the time is right as we want to concentrate on advancing the project a little bit further first.”

He said the inclusion of aviation in the UK’s renewable transport fuel obligation (RTFO) was a major factor in attracting Fulcrum to set up its first facility outside the US, and there could be more, he added. “There are a number of UK locations we are looking at.”

He would, though, like to see more policy support that would help make the financing of projects such as Fulcrum’s easier, for example through offering loan guarantees, as is the case in the United States. The announcement late last year by the UK Chancellor of a National Infrastructure Bank could be of specific benefit but details were still awaited, he said.

“However, support for sustainable aviation fuels being part of official policy by the UK government helps tremendously and the recent establishment of the Jet Zero Council and other announcements, plus the availability of grants, draw you to a country,” he said. “The UK waste market is also very mature so there are a lot of benefits for a company like ours. The UK is a great place to invest.”

He said Fulcrum had plans to look at opportunities in Europe, particularly with blending mandates now under strong consideration by EU countries.

Last week, British Airways announced an investment in US alcohol-to-jet fuel producer LanzaJet, with the two partners signalling their interest in deploying the LanzaJet technology and SAF production in the UK (see article).

Photo: The Stanlow Manufacturing Complex (credit: Essar)