First stage winners of the Future Fuels for Flight and Freight Competition announced

Seven projects will receive a share of £2 million to develop proposals for advanced fuels production plants in the UK.

The Department for Transport has announced the winners of stage 1 of the £22m Future Fuels for Flight and Freight Competition, an initiative supported by KTN’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel Special Interest Group.

Proposals include the production of aircraft jet fuel from steel mill waste gases, and a project exploring the use of waste wood to produce a synthetic natural gas for HGVs.

The competition was launched in April 2017 to encourage private sector investment in the development of advanced fuel production facilities in the UK.

The Department for Transport said this competition would enable the development of new technologies which would pave the way for cleaner growth in the UK and help drive down carbon emissions.

The aims of the competition are to increase domestic production of advanced low carbon fuels and to stimulate investment and create jobs through the development of a prosperous domestic industry.

The successful bids are:

• Rika Biogas Technologies (Liquid biomethane) ¬£103,034
• Johnson Matthey (Kerosene, diesel and petrol substitutes) ¬£178,000
• Standard Gas (Synthetic natural gas) ¬£178,000
• LanzaTech (Kerosene and diesel substitutes) ¬£410,000
• Progressive Energy (Synthetic natural gas) ¬£175,960
• Kew Projects (Diesel substitute) ¬£312,300
• Velocys Technologies (Kerosene and petrol substitutes) ¬£434,000

Applicants that receive Stage 1 funding will be invited to apply for a share of a further £20 million Stage 2 funding to help with construction. The Stage 2 assessment will take place in December 2018 and the successful applicants will be announced in early 2019.