UK startup launches SAF plant at Oxford Airport in quest for greener flights

UK startup OXCCU has opened a Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) demo plant at London Oxford Airport, as it looks to make a dent in emissions from air travel. 

OXCCU spunout from Oxford University in 2021. The startup has developed a type of eFuel made by converting captured CO2 and hydrogen into SAF using renewable electricity.   

SAF is designed to be used as a “drop-in” fuel, meaning it can be blended with traditional jet fuel and used in existing aircraft engines without modifications. The most well-known kind of SAF is used cooking oil, but companies are currently exploring more scalable alternatives to meet the growing demand for greener flights.

Unlike many other firms in this space, OXCCU says it has found a way to produce SAF in one single step. According to the company, it has eliminated the need to first convert the CO2 into CO, a highly energy-intensive — and expensive — process. The fuel can “massively reduce the cost of SAF,” said the company’s CEO, Andrew Symes.

OXCCU’s demo plant will produce 1.2 litres of liquid fuel per day.  “This plant will generate the data and litres of fuel we need,” said Symes. The startup is looking to open a second plant, capable of producing 200 litres per day, in Hull in 2026.

Aviation accounts for almost 2.5% of global carbon emissions, a figure that could rise to 20% by 2050. While battery-electric and hydrogen-powered planes could work for short-haul flights, it is commonly accepted that SAF is the only viable alternative to jet fuel over longer distances. 

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However, SAF is currently very expensive and energy-intensive to produce. In 2023, it only accounted for 0.2% of all aviation fuel for the year. OXCCU, with its patented process, hopes to make the fuel more cost competitive with jet fuel.

Nevertheless, OXCCU’s production process still requires the electrolysis of water into hydrogen, which requires access to a lot of clean electricity. This could prove to be a bottleneck to scaling up, especially as demand for renewable energy skyrockets to power everything from EVs to data centres.  

What’s more, while eFuels are considered carbon-neutral because the CO2 emitted when they are burned is equal to the CO2 captured during production, they still release pretty much the same amount of CO2 as jet fuel when burnt. 

SAF doesn’t eliminate CO2 emissions from aviation — it merely neutralises them if the entire lifecycle is managed perfectly. However, in the absence of better alternatives, SAF might be our best bet at decarbonising long-haul flights.