Mark Harper hails £27m plan to turn rubbish into jet fuel at new Immingham site

By Chris Burn
Published 22nd Dec 2022, 05:45 BST
Transport Secretary Mark Harper has hailed plans to turn household rubbish into environmentally-friendly aircraft fuel at a new commercial plant in Immingham.

A sustainable fuels technology company called Velocys announced last week that its subsidiary Altalto Immingham has been awarded a grant of up to £27m from the Department for Transport’s Advanced Fuels Fund.

The site is expected to open in 2028.

The DfT has now said that money is part of a wider £165m investment in different sustainable air fuel (SAF) projects across the country, including in new plants in Teesside, Port Talbot and Ellesmere Port.

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Transport Secretary Mark Harper says the Government investment could help create thousands of green jobs across the countryTransport Secretary Mark Harper says the Government investment could help create thousands of green jobs across the country
Transport Secretary Mark Harper says the Government investment could help create thousands of green jobs across the country

It is hoped these projects will create thousands of green jobs, and will use different methods of creating SAF, whether converting it from everyday household and commercial waste to steel mill off-gases.

Velocys has also received funding for another project which will see the early development of a SAF plant using carbon capture and hydrogen made from renewable electricity, which has received £2.5m from the same tranche of funding.

Mr Harper said: “Using waste or by-products to refuel airliners sounds like a flight of fancy, but thanks to £165 million of Government funding it’s going to help us make guilt-free flying a reality.

“It’s exactly this kind of innovation that will help us create thousands of green jobs across the country and slash our carbon emissions.”

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The Government said the five projects will alone produce over 300,000 tonnes of SAF a year – enough to fly to the moon and back an estimated 60 times.

The successful projects will also slash CO2 emissions by an average of 200,000 tonnes each year once fully up and running – the equivalent of taking 100,000 cars off the road.

Tim Alderslade, Chief Executive of Airlines UK, said: “The Jet Zero Strategy was a real statement of intent from Government that aviation, without the carbon, is an achievable end goal by 2050. This £165m of funding - alongside the 10% SAF mandate by 2030 shows the Government shares our ambition of a home-grown SAF industry here in the UK. This could generate tens of thousands of jobs and huge GVA, levelling-up and exports potential for the UK. It's a big prize and one we are committed to working with Ministers to achieve."