Has Europe’s Cleanest Jet Fuel Plant Got Bankability?

Inside an industrial park on the outskirts of Frankfurt, a machine the size of a shipping container is turning carbon dioxide and hydrogen into fuel.

The electro-Sustainable Aviation Fuel (eSAF) it produces has the same consistency and clarity as water, and is certified for use in existing aircraft and infrastructure.

This new kind of jet fuel plant, launched by Ineratec and known as Era One, has been referred to by Bill Gates’ investment firm Breakthrough Energy Catalyst as a “promising path” to decarbonizing aviation. 

EU airlines are being mandated by its government to include eSAF at 1.2% of its fuel mix by 2030, which works out to about 600,000 tonnes. The rules will rise to 35% of fuel mixes by 2050. Failure to comply could trigger penalties of up to €13,000 per tonne.

Era One’s current output of 2,500 tonnes of eSAF per year could fuel 30 long-haul flights, or 1,000 average short haul flights. At this rate, it would take 240