Carbon Neutral Fuels, io consulting and Mission Zero Technologies announce £1.4m DfT Advanced Fuels Fund award

Transport Secretary, Mark Harper commented regarding the wider Advanced Fuels Fund: “The investment we’re announcing today demonstrates our confidence in the UK’s SAF industry - creating jobs, encouraging overseas investment and levelling up communities across the whole country. Thanks to this Government’s backing, the UK is quickly becoming a SAF superpower – ensuring people can continue to travel how they want, in a way that’s fit for the future.” 

The ASAP-DAC project will conduct feasibility studies through Front End Engineering Design for a UK based Power-to-Liquid e-fuels demonstration facility capable of producing 750,000 litres/year of Jet A-1 compatible Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), to support the DfT’s objective of developing innovative fuel production technologies capable of significantly reducing near term UK aviation emissions.

Sophie Zienkiewicz, Co-founder of CNF, said: “This is a huge milestone that demonstrates the UK Government’s commitment to tackling climate change through innovation in advanced technologies. We’re incredibly excited to be working with our partners to deliver on this project and to showcase our modular and scalable approach to decarbonising aviation.”

io will conduct the Feasibility, pre FEED and FEED studies. In response to the award, Richard Dyson, io’s CEO, stated: “We are delighted to have been successful in winning this DfT grant along with our consortium partners and are excited to be part of the team challenged with developing this important pathway for decarbonising air travel.”

Mission Zero Technologies will collaborate on the integration of their innovative Direct Air Capture technology. Nicholas Chadwick, CEO of Mission Zero Technologies, stated: “This is an important moment for UK SAF production. Direct air capture offers a truly scalable and location-agnostic source of sustainable carbon; the sooner we demonstrate its value at scale, the sooner the UK’s SAF industry can take flight.”

The competition for Window 2 of the DfT’s Advanced Fuels Fund ran from 30th March 2023 through 7th June, with £55.8 million being made available for eligible projects out of a total available allocation of £165 million, providing grant funding to first-of-a-kind (FOAK) commercial and demonstration-scale SAF projects in the UK at all development stages up to construction starting.

About Carbon Neutral Fuels

Carbon Neutral Fuels is pioneering a modular & scalable ‘Power-to-Liquid’ e-fuel production technology that can be rapidly deployed close to where sustainable fuels are needed. Founded in 2022 by Alasdair Lumsden and Sophie Zienkiewicz, we are driven by the belief that climate change can be solved through technology whilst maintaining prosperity and a high standard of living for all. For the latest updates and to follow our journey, visit us at https://cnf.energy

About io consulting

io consulting is an energy project architect that specialises in front end thinking to enable complex projects with greater embedded decision quality. Formed as a JV between Baker Hughes and McDermott we approach projects differently – we start with the end in mind (i.e. we think from right to left) and do this - slowly – in order to achieve high-quality front-end loading (FEL) so that, post sanction, projects can be executed at speed, to budget and schedule certainty. We achieve this by bringing an experienced and established team with the required blend of technical, commercial and strategic knowledge, and capabilities required to achieve consistently successful project outcomes. For global energy insights visit www.ioconsulting.com

About Mission Zero Technologies

Mission Zero Technologies is revolutionising the world’s carbon infrastructure for a thriving planet. Since 2020, the team has rapidly pioneered a high-efficiency Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology to remove historic CO₂ emissions from the atmosphere anywhere at any scale. Backed by the world’s foremost climate VC Breakthrough Energy Ventures, as well as the XPRIZE foundation, Anglo American, Stripe, and the UK Government, Mission Zero has quickly grown from lab to pilot and will be delivering its first commercial plant in Q4 2023. Follow their mission at www.missionzero.tech