Immingham company Velocys is one of five companies given a share in £165m from the Government to help it convert black bin bag waste into sustainable aviation fuel.
The company is currently working on a commercial scale factory to make the fuel, and is expected to have it operational in 2028, capable of producing 37.4kt/y of fuel when at full operational capacity.
Velocys CEO Henrik Wareborn said: “Velocys is delighted to receive two grant awards from the Advanced Fuels Fund, which will help to accelerate the production of SAF at commercial scale in the UK using our technology. The Altalto grant will allow us to begin FEED for our waste-to-SAF plant in Immingham, which already has planning permission. The e-fuels grant allows us to work with our partners to explore the UK based production of power-to-liquid SAF.”
Building on the success of the green fuels, green skies programme, the five projects alone will produce over 300,000 tonnes of SAF a year – enough to fly to the moon and back an estimated 60 times.
The successful projects will also slash CO2 emissions by an average of 200,000 tonnes each year once fully up and running – the equivalent of taking 100,000 cars off the road.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper said: “Using waste or by-products to refuel airliners sounds like a flight of fancy, but thanks to £165 million of government funding it’s going to help us make guilt-free flying a reality.
“It’s exactly this kind of innovation that will help us create thousands of green jobs across the country and slash our carbon emissions.”
Image shows: Velocys CEO Henrik Wareborn
