Sustainable aviation fuel startup Metafuels opens new Denmark facility
The cleantech company is flying high after announcing launch of the facility following earlier funding round
3rd June 2024
Zurich-based aviation technology startup, Metafuels AG, has announced plans for a sustainable aviation fuel facility in Denmark with European Energy.
Just last December, Metafuels raised $8 million in a seed funding round, led by climate-focused VCs including Energy Impact Partners.
Metafuels develops sustainable fuel technologies and synthetic aviation fuel. It worked with the Paul Scherrer Institue to develop its smart technology, aerobrew, which converts green methanol into jet fuel. It features high energetic efficiency and ultra-high conversion of carbon into jet fuel with up to 90% reduction of life cycle emissions compared to conventional jet fuel.
Metafuels has signed an agreement with European Energy to set up a synthetic sustainable aviation fuel facility (eSAF) near Padborg in the southern part of the country.
“European Energy is a key partner for us as we look to take the idea of eSAF from concept to reality – this can drastically cut emissions in the aviation sector, which is one of the hardest to decarbonise. This is a major milestone in our development process and a real-world step towards affordable eSAF replacing kerosene, and its impact on the planet.”
Saurabh Kapoor, CEO of Metafuels
The new facility is set to be constructed adjacent to a future Power-to-X facility from European Energy. The facility will be able to produce approximately 12,000 liters of eSAF daily.
So what is sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)?
According to BP, SAF is similar in structure to conventional jet fuel made from fossil fuels, but is produced from sustainable resources and leftover materials; including forestry and houshold waste or cooking oil and food scraps.
SAF can be blended with traditional jet fuel and be handled in the same way, helping to streamline the gradual transition to its widespread use.
Its purpose is to reduce carbon emissions, as using SAF can provide a lifecycle carbon reduction of up to 80%.
Sustainability measures such as these are a hot topic, and startups in this space, hot property, especially with Net Zero targets on the horizon.
Research from the IEA shows that the aviation sector accounts for over 2% of global CO2 emissions. From 2005 – 2009 the aviation industry improved fuel efficiency by approximately 39%, yet, according to McKinsey, overall emissions still offset overall efficiency gains.
It’s a problem the experts are aware of. Yet, developing solutions is complicated. It requires a tremendous amount of cooperation, legislation, innovation, and plenty of investment, to get right.
The technology is still in its infancy, though significant progress has been made in recent years.
SAF is now ‘on tap’ at London Oxford Airport. Vietnam Airlines announced it operated an Airbus flight from Vietnam to Singapore, powered by SAF.
It’s clear that whilst it’s an exciting sector with huge opportunities for growth and to drive real world change, there is a long runway ahead. SAF only accounted for 0.15% of global jet fuel volume in 2023.
But nothing worth having comes easily and the pioneering progress of Metafuels and others in this space is certainly worth keeping track of.
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