The Department for Transport (DfT) has awarded £181k in funding through the UK Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) Clearing House to four leading innovators - Avioxx Ltd, Clean Planet Technologies Ltd, Green Lizard Technologies Ltd, and Zero Petroleum Ltd.
This investment will accelerate the testing, certification, and commercialisation of next-generation sustainable aviation fuels, a cornerstone of the UK’s approach to decarbonising the aviation sector.
The UK SAF Clearing House, funded by the DfT, underpins the UK’s ambition to lead globally in sustainable aviation fuel by supporting development, testing, qualification, and production. It helps SAF innovators access government funding, provides guidance on qualification requirements, connects them to recognised testing facilities, and acts as a collaborative forum to accelerate commercialisation.
Matthew Jee, UK SAF Clearing House Director, said: “The UK SAF Clearing House is delighted to support a new cohort of SAF producers as they move through the critical stages of fuel qualification. The testing we facilitate provides the robust evidence base that producers and industry need to build confidence, unlock investment and accelerate the deployment of new fuels. These awards underline the UK SAF Clearing House’s commitment to working closely with innovators to scale sustainable aviation fuel production and to deliver meaningful progress towards a more sustainable aviation sector in the UK.”
The four organisations receiving the funding are highlighting the impact the support will have on advancing their technologies and bringing new low-carbon fuels to market.
Chris Hancock, CEO of Avioxx said: “The Department for Transport’s support is helping Avioxx prove the production of certifiable fuel using our novel process, which makes sustainable fuel from waste - a highly abundant source of energy - at a cost-competitive price to fossil-derived kerosene. This latest round of funding allows us to accelerate and deepen testing of fuel from our new X25 Fischer–Tropsch reactor and continue to scale towards commercial production, the development of our first-of-a-kind 32,000-tonne-per-year SAF plant, and the definition of a new global standard for cost-effective synthetic fuel production.”
Dr Andrew Odjo, CEO of Clean Planet Technologies said: “We are delighted to be supported by the UK SAF Clearing House programme, enabling us to accelerate the validation of our innovative plastics-to-SAF technology. Every molecule of virgin fossil fuel that we can replace with our oils brings waste back into the value chain and significantly reduces lifecycle carbon emissions and plastic pollution. The UK is at the forefront of advanced fuels, and this support helps ground-breaking technologies like ours reach commercial deployment. We’re proud to contribute to the future of sustainable aviation and to the UK’s Net Zero ambitions whilst removing waste plastics from the environment.”
Dr Martin Atkins, CEO of Green Lizard Technologies: “Green Lizard Technologies is delighted to receive funding from the Department for Transport through the UK SAF Clearing House programme. This support recognises our low-carbon Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), produced using our commercial-scale Fischer–Tropsch (FT) process, as being the first of its kind to complete a full jet-engine test in the UK, with results demonstrating exceptional performance. The additional validation and testing enabled by this funding will accelerate the commercial deployment of our technology, supporting Green Lizard’s mission to drive reindustrialisation and deep decarbonisation across Teesside.”
Paddy Lowe, CEO of Zero Petroleum, said: “We are thrilled to receive funding from the UK SAF Clearing House and DfT to help advance our 100% replica Jet A-1 synthetic fuel (eSAF) development. This grant will accelerate our growth timeline by supporting the rapid testing and qualification of our fuel as we prepare for fast-track approval through ASTM. We are grateful for the ongoing support from UK Government for the commercialisation of our pioneering synthetic fuel technology. Through both the UK SAF Clearing House and Advanced Fuels Fund, DfT have shown strong commitment to scaling our technology and bringing low-carbon fuels to market.”
SAF is one of the key measures required to reach net zero emissions from aviation by 2050. Government is encouraging the production, development and use of SAF by building demand through the SAF Mandate, growing the UK supply of SAF by supporting first-of-a-kind SAF production plants, and helping to de-risk SAF projects by legislating to introduce a revenue certainty mechanism. The UK SAF Clearing House plays a crucial role in bolstering these measures by providing advice and support to SAF producers navigating the fuel testing landscape.
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About UK SAF Clearing House
The UK SAF Clearing House supports industry to deploy SAF by facilitating the development, evaluation, and qualification of jet fuel from sustainable sources. We build on and further develop existing UK expertise to help reduce uncertainty, cost, and time barriers to SAF development which in turn broadens the scope of eligible fuels that meet the rigorous performance and quality standards required for commercial and military aviation use.
The UK SAF Clearing House provides advice and guidance to fuel producers on SAF testing and qualification requirements; co-ordinates testing activity between a network of UK facilities to cover the required pre-screening and ASTM process; supports the DfT in providing grants to reimburse testing costs; and works collaboratively with stakeholders including Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), regulators, Specification Groups and the US and EU Clearing Houses.
About Avioxx
Avioxx has developed a novel waste-to-SAF platform designed to produce sustainable aviation fuel without relying on the electricity grid or external hydrogen. The system converts waste hydrocarbons, which are abundant in energy, into syngas, upgrades this into liquid hydrocarbons using Fischer–Tropsch synthesis, and powers itself through a solid-oxide fuel cell and electrolyser loop. This creates a closed-loop, off-grid fuel production system with very low, potentially negative, carbon intensity.
The company is now producing liquid hydrocarbons from its new X25 Fischer–Tropsch reactor, which forms the basis of its upcoming fuel-qualification work. Funding through the UK SAF Clearing House programme is supporting Avioxx as it progresses through ASTM D7566 testing, including Fischer–Tropsch crude production, hydrocracking, atmospheric distillation and full fuel analysis.
These results will help validate the process, confirm the fuel’s compliance with aviation standards and enable Avioxx to move towards the next phase of engineering for its first commercial plants. Avioxx aims to provide a cost-competitive, scalable route for SAF production using waste materials already available across the UK, helping reduce dependence on imports and supporting national energy security as the aviation sector transitions to lower-carbon fuels.
About Clean Planet Technologies
Clean Planet Technologies is part of the Clean Planet Group (cleanplanet.com) and is developing an advanced route for converting non-recyclable waste plastics into Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). The process combines pyrolysis with proprietary hydroprocessing technology to produce a jet fuel with a significantly lower greenhouse gas footprint than fossil alternatives. This approach addresses two challenges simultaneously: reducing the climate impact of aviation and diverting hard-to-recycle plastics from the waste stream.
The funding awarded through the UK SAF Clearing House programme will support the next phase of our fuel qualification journey, including detailed fuel characterisation, materials compatibility work, and the data generation required for ASTM certification. CPTech is an active contributor to the ASTM task force for the plastics-to-SAF pathway and is working alongside OMV, whose forthcoming Annex is expected to establish the regulatory route for this new class of fuels.
This support enables us to progress our validation programme more rapidly and strengthen the evidence base needed for commercial deployment. Each step in this process brings us closer to the commissioning of our first commercial-scale unit, targeted for 2029, and to delivering meaningful volumes of low-carbon SAF to the market.
About Green Lizard Technologies
Green Lizard Technologies Ltd is an award-winning UK company delivering proven, large-scale technologies for clean fuels, energy storage, and waste recycling. We are part of the Green Lizard Group which includes Green Lizard Estates Ltd and Community Nuclear Power Ltd, a leading developer of small modular reactors. Together we own and operate a 500-acre industrial site in Teesside, where we are developing a Power-to-Liquids Park that uses clean electricity and hydrogen to produce low-carbon and carbon-negative fuels and chemicals, including Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).
Located at the heart of the Net Zero Teesside and Northern Endurance Partnership initiatives, the site is already a major hydrogen hub. Our commercialised, industrial-scale Fischer–Tropsch (FT) system, combined with proprietary upgrading technology, converts CO₂ into high-quality SAF. Funding from the Department for Transport via the UK SAF Clearing House will enable further independent testing of our existing product, demonstrating its superior efficiency and particulate-reduction performance, strengthening market and investor attractiveness, and accelerating commercial-scale expansion in Teesside.
About Zero Petroleum
Zero Petroleum is a UK-based synthetic fuel technology developer found in 2020. The company specialises in the development of DirectFT® technology for the synthesis of 100% replica fuels, including jet, gasoline and diesel. The company benefits from a rich diversity in technical expertise, bringing together Formula1 performance engineering alongside chemical and process engineering excellence.
The Clearing House/DfT funding has enabled the acceleration of jet fuel development through facilitating a rapid feedback loop between laboratory, pilot plant and test-houses. This access to test-houses has enhanced our R&D capability significantly, and has already yielded improvements in fuel quality and specification. Specifically, it has enabled lab-scale process development and verification programs to run very quickly, and been instrumental in monitoring and maintaining the quality of fuel at pilot scale. Overall, this has helped Zero to position itself to play it's part in delivering the UK SAF mandate with certified jet fuel made in the UK by UK technology.