Preparing for take off – DfT awards SAF funding

The Department for Transport (DfT) has given £181,000 in funding through the UK SAF Clearing House to four companies.

The UK SAF Clearing House is funded by the DfT and is part of the UK’s ambition to lead globally in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

Each company – Avioxx, Clean Planet Technologies, Green Lizard Technologies and Zero Petroleum – is working with its own technology and approach of reducing carbon emissions in the sector, and the funding will go towards helping with the cost of testing, certification and commercialisation of next-generation SAF.

SAF is one of the key measures to help reach net zero emissions from aviation by 2050, and the UK government is encouraging the production, development and use of SAF using the SAF Mandate as a key policy lever. The goal is to grow the supply of SAF through the support of production plants and introduce a revenue certainty mechanism, which aims to guarantee a fixed price for SAF to give the market confidence.

Avioxx makes sustainable fuel from waste at a cost-competitive price, and the funding will allow it to accelerate testing of fuel from its X25 Fischer-Tropsch reactor, scaling towards commercial production and the development of its 32,000 tonne-per-year plant.

Clean Planet Technologies is accelerating validation of its plastics-to-SAF technology which aims to bring waste back into the value chain while reducing carbon emissions and plastic pollution. The funding will allow it to carry out detailed fuel characterisation, materials compatibility testing and data generation.

Green Lizard Technologies offers low-carbon SAF using its Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process, and testing enabled by the funding will accelerate commercial deployment of its technology.

Zero Petroleum aims to advance its 100% replica synthetic fuel (eSAF), offering the same performance and range as its fossil fuel alternative without the need for modifications. The funding will be used to support rapid testing and qualification of its fuel as it prepares for fast-track approval.

Katie Adams, Policy Manager at Logistics UK said: “Logistics UK recognises that challenges around decarbonisation and the importance of SAF in the transition, with the potential to reduce aviation emissions by 70%.

“However, major barriers to SAF adoption are the availability and cost of the fuel.

“The announcement of this funding is a step in the right direction, supporting companies in scaling and commercialising innovative technologies and enabling the growth of sustainable aviation.”