Alcohol-based SAF projects win big in UK’s funding award

opinion

by Fayaz Hussain

July 28, 2025

Alcohol startups win big

Nearly a century ago, Sir Frank Whittle spent many years struggling to turn his ideas into the world’s first jet engine. He not only battled technical challenges inside the workshop but was also delayed by lack of funding. The country’s Air Ministry dismissed his idea as mere fantasy. In the end, he found private investors.

The UK government’s approach today to new sustainable aviation fuel innovators tells a refreshingly different story.

This week, the UK’s Department for Transport announced £63m ($85m) in funding for first-of-a-kind SAF projects. The funding under the Advanced Fuels Fund (in its the third instalment) will support projects with engineering, procurement and construction, front-end engineering and design and pre-front-end engineering and design.

Some 17 companies won the award. Fischer-Tropsch processes emerged as the clear winners with 10 projects. Alcohol-based pathways also did well. Three ethanol-to-jet projects captured 29% of funding, while four methanol-to-jet ventures secured 18%.

“It’s interesting to observe the evolving technology mix among Advanced Fuels Fund winners over the three funding rounds,” Vitalii Protasov, CEO of GENA Solutions which offer analytics on green energy projects around the world, told SAF Investor.

In the Advanced Future Fund’s first window in 2022, Fischer-Tropsch projects won 70% of funding with ethanol-to-jet project winning 30%. In the second window, Fischer-Tropsch projects accounted for 63% of the funding followed by ethanol at 17%, methanol at 11%, pyrolysis and hydrotreatment projects (8%).

“The share of ethanol-to-jet and methanol-to-jet technologies grew noticeably in the latest round, likely indicating a shift in focus among SAF developers in the UK,” Protasov added.

While Fischer-Tropsch processes require complex gasification and synthesis steps, alcohol-based pathways employ a more straightforward conversion process. LanzaJet’s £10m ($13.4m) award for Project Speedbird will support the ethanol-to-jet pathway utilising advanced bioethanol extracted from agricultural residues to purpose-grown energy crops.

Projects planning to use sawmill and residue, sugar beet residue and recycled carbon fuel ethanol were also awarded £17m ($22.8m). Alfanar’s Lighthouse Green Fuels project, secured £8m ($10.7m) in its third consecutive award.

While winners were clearly jubilant, some projects missed out. One of these was GRAMM project – being developed to utilise BioTfueL technology – developed by a consortium of TotalEnergies, Axens and thyssenkrupp Uhde. Despite plans to build 53% of country’s SAF target obligations, the Barrow-based project failed to meet the award requirements.

The Advanced Fuels Fund clearly shows the UK government’s resolve to take the steps needed to scale production in the country. The UK’s recent SAF Bill and Revenue Certainty Mechanism should also provide additional demand certainty.

But just as Sir Whittle needed private investors to bring his jet engine to life, these SAF projects now require the same leap of faith from commercial partners.