Expert Q&A: Sustainable aviation fuel

From the development of hybrid-electric powertrains to the reinvention of the airship, no stone is being left unturned in the hunt for technologies that will help reduce the aviation sector’s carbon footprint. But whilst it’s certainly true that a range of different technologies will have a role to play, sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) look set to do most of the heavy lifting in the near future. We asked a group of leaders at the forefront of this rapidly growing sector about their technologies and how they see the SAF industry developing.

Meet the Experts:

James Hygate - CEO , Firefly Green Fuels
Paddy Lowe – CEO, Zero Petroleum
Sarah Ellerby - Chief Executive Officer,  Nova Pangaea Technologies
Dr Gianluca Ambrosetti - CEO and Co-Founder, Synhelion
Alastair Hobday - Associate Fellow, Fuels and Lubricants, Rolls-Royce Plc

Explain your process and technology?

SE: Our patented process, REFNOVA, uses our proprietary Steam Assisted Rapid Pyrolysis (SARP) to convert non-food derived agricultural and wood residues into lignocellulosic ethanol which is crucial to producing SAF. This is a revolutionary technology, offering an efficient, clean and reliable process to produce advanced biofuels and co-products such as biocarbons – biochar and activated carbon. Our ‘second-generation’ biofuels are produced from residual and waste products, whereas ‘first-generation’ biofuels are directly produced from food crops.