eSAF tech startup secures $1.8m funding

Netherlands-based technology company SeaO2 said, to together with TU Delft, University of Twente, and NERA, it has secured €1.64m ($1.8m) in funding from Dutch funding initiative TKI Energy and Industry program.

TKI Energy and Industry program is operated by Energy Innovation NL.

The project will help develop a decentralised and fully integrated process for producing sustainable aviation fuel (e-SAF) using seawater, renewable electricity, and captured CO2.

“By bringing together expertise in CO2 capture, electrochemical conversion, and advanced catalysis, we’re working toward a new generation of e-fuels that can be produced locally, flexibly, and without reliance on biomass or fossil inputs,” said the company in a statement.

The company said the project will focus on design and feasibility, CO2 and water capture, CO2 conversion and conducting techno-economic analysis.

The company this will include defining the system requirements, use case, and technical criteria for a viable water-to-e-SAF pathway and advancing SeaO2’s electrochemical technology to efficiently extract CO₂ from seawater and to study the capture of ultrapure water for hydrogen formation.

Meanwhile, the last two steps will turn captured CO2 into alcohols and olefins – the key building blocks of SAF, using innovative reactor designs and catalysts and evaluate the integrated process and benchmarking it against conventional kerosene to assess cost-effectiveness and scalability.

SeaO2 is backed by Future Tech Ventures, Carbonfix and Transavia ventures. The company also has commercial partnerships with Klarna, Ledgy and Ceezer.