London Oxford Airport based OXCCU has won a government grant of £2.8 million in collaboration with the University of Sheffield Translational Energy Research Centre (TERC) and Coryton, which will be used to scale sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production.
Something of a disruptor to the traditional aviation fuelling sector, OXCCU is a leading carbon-to-value company which is converting CO2 and hydrogen into industrial and consumer products. The capital will be used to demonstrate the world’s first direct carbon dioxide (CO2) hydrogenation process, turning CO2 into aviation fuel range hydrocarbons, also known as SAF.
OXCCU’s novel approach to SAF production, directly converting CO2 and hydrogen (H2) to hydrocarbons, essentially creates jet fuel from thin air. Traditionally a multi-step process, OXCCU has simplified this process to just a single step. The reactor will be located at the TERC and fed with biogenic CO2 captured from biomass combustion and H2 produced on site from electrolysis using green electricity. The fuel is then blended via Coryton to produce a fuel of Jet A-1 specification.
“We’re proud to be part of the UK’s journey to cement itself as a leader in clean aviation and to help scale world-first technologies in SAF,” said OXCCU CEO Andrew Symes. “This new investment will be a welcome contribution to our efforts to help the industry meet the high targets it has set.”
While traditional biofuels face various issues when it comes to scaling up production, including limited feedstocks and the need for hydrocarbons to be created without the use of fossil fuels, e-fuels or synthetic fuels based on CO2 have huge potential to scale with fewer feedstock constraints. However they face challenges due to cost. OXCCU’s patented technology addresses these challenges by consolidating the traditional e-hydrocarbons production process from two steps, Reverse Water Gas Shift (RWGS) then Fischer-Tropsch, to a one-step direct hydrogenation process. It offers a cost-effective solution and opens up intriguing opportunities for the future of commercial aviation.
OXCCU’s SAF will be available to customers as OXEFUEL.
