The SAF Podcast

Sarah Ellerby, CEO, Nova Pangaea Technologies (NPT) is the latest guest to sit down with Al on The SAF Podcast.

Nova Pangaea Technologies are a UK based company looking whose patented REFNOVA technology can create fantastic added value to almost all waste plant biomass, including the production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).  Currently, Nova Pangaea Technologies is currently most notably working on project Speedbird, in the UK, with British Airways and Alcohol-to-Jet refinery technology company, Lanzajet, which is scheduled to come online in 2026. British Airway's parent company, International Airline Group (IAG) also invested in NPT in June 2023.

This is a fantastic discussion where Sarah outlines what NPT's expansion strategy could look like beyond project Speedbird, and which global markets they will look to target. Another critical point of discussion is the challenge of procuring project finance and investment when you are based outside of the US and how this slows down projects in the less regulatory mature markets around the world, as well as so many other critical discussion points. 

You can also find out what Sarah did when the IAG investment was confirmed.

This is a fantastic episode and very interesting to hear about the SAF market progress outside of the major US and European markets.

If you like this episode check out our other episode with Sylvain Verdier, Topsoe here.

You can find out more about Nova Pangaea Technologies here.

Find out more about SAF Investor and the upcoming SAF Investor London conference on the 27th-28th February 2024 here.

Host - Alasdair Whyte, SAF Investor
Producer - Oscar Henderson, SAF Investor

In our latest episode of the SAF Podcast Alasdair has a brilliant discussion with John Hannon, COO, Vertimass.

Vertimass are a US based biofuel company that produces Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) from ethanol using their Vertimass Catalyst Technology. This process does not require external Hydrogen and can produce SAF with low capital costs and operating costs. They also can co-locate their facilities with existing ethanol production facilities, which can further reduce production costs.

John discusses the benefits of Vertimass technology in efficiently producing SAF, the importance of techno-economic analyses to the scalability of technology to production as well as discussing their ongoing series C funding round.

Find out more about Vertimass here: https://www.vertimass.com/

Find out more about SAF Investor here: https://www.safinvestor.com/

If you like this episode you should check out our episode with Jimmy Samartzis, Lanzajet, to find out more about the Alchol-to-jet production pathway. 

Host: Alasdair Whyte, SAF Investor
Producer: Oscar Henderson, SAF Investor

The latest episode of the The SAF Podcast had Jean Paquin, CEO, SAF+ have a passionate discussion with Alasdair about the potential of e-fuels for sustainable aviation.

SAF+ is a Montreal based Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) producer using the Power-to-Liquid process to synthesise SAF from CO2 and hydrogen. SAF+ is part of the The Skies the Limit Challenge started by the Canadian government to set up a pilot plant the demonstrate the production of SAF. Montreal is a great place for an e-SAF facility due to the large availability of hydro-electric renewable power that can be utilised in the production process, one of the key challenges to PtL SAF production. They have a considerable number of offtake agreements already in place, most notably the agreement with the Air France Group penned in August 2023.

Jean and Alasdair discuss where the first SAF+ refinery could be located, the importance of a portfolio approach to stakeholders to ensure that SAF+ has access to the most recent and important industry development and expertise. They also discuss whether Jean wants to be first and the challenges and opportunities that this creates.

You are unlikely to find someone more animated and passionate about the potential the SAF holds in aiding the progress of sustainable aviation.

You can find out more about SAF+ here: https://safplusconsortium.com/

You can find out more about SAF Investor here: https://www.safinvestor.com/ 

Host: Alasdair Whyte, SAF Investor
Producer: Oscar Henderson, SAF Investor

In the latest episode of the SAF Podcast Alasdair sits down with Jimmy Samartzis, CEO, LanzaJet. LanzaJet was spun out of LanzaTech in 2020 and are the industry leaders when it comes to Alcohol-to-Jet Sustainable Aviation Fuel production pathway. With their Freedom Pines facility in Georgia scheduled for commercial production later in 2023 and other projects in New Zealand, Australia, India and the UK (Project Speedbird and Project Dragon) currently being explored.

Jimmy discusses their Freedom Pines facility and how it is running on schedule and budget (a remarkable feat considering the recent level of inflation), the importance of the right shareholders to help in project development and capital frameworks and why everyone in the SAF industry needs to speed up to produce more SAF.
 

If you want to find out more about LanzaJet you can here: https://www.lanzajet.com/

You can find out more about SAF Investor here: https://www.safinvestor.com/

Host: Alasdair Whyte, SAF Investor
Producer: Oscar Henderson, SAF Investor

Matteo Mirolo, Aviation Policy Manager, Transport & Environment was the most recent guest on The SAF Podcast. T&E are a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) based in Brussels that stretches across Europe,  working to make all transport across the continent more sustainable.

Matteo's main focus is on Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), mainly, e-fuels and mitigating the non-CO2 effects of flying. In this podcast Matteo discusses the potential issues of the darker underbelly of the SAF industry with used cooking oil fraud, something that Matteo says occurs on a daily basis. He also highlights the pitfalls of what he calls 'crypto SAF' which could come to prominence with ever increasing complication of book-and-claim systems.

This is a fantastic episode really highlighting how the SAF industry can look at achieving the clarity and transparency needed to attract the investment that is sorely needed.

Find out more about Transport & Environment here: https://www.transportenvironment.org/

Find out more about SAF Investor, as well as other podcast episodes here: https://www.safinvestor.com/

Host: Alasdair Whyte, SAF Investor
Producer: Oscar Henderson, SAF Investor

For the latest episode of The SAF Podcast, Al sat down with Chris Brown, Partner, Aviation Strategy & Global Chair, Future of Flight, KPMG.

Chris has over 15 years' worth of experience across growth and decarbonisation strategies in aviation. What makes Chris a really interesting guest is that he is gives one of the more sceptical perspectives on whether Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) supply will be at a sufficient scale to meet 2050 targets.

Chris and Al discuss a variety of topics including some of KPMG's forecasts, why he is most bullish on power-to-liquid and eSAF as opposed to waste biomass or alcohol-to-jet methods, and how Carbon Capture and offsetting could play a considerable role in the quest for decarbonisation.

You can find out more about Chris here: https://kpmg.com/ie/en/home/contacts/b/christopher-brown.html

Find out more about SAF Investor here: https://www.safinvestor.com/

Host: Alasdair Whyte, SAF Investor
Producer: Oscar Henderson, SAF Investor 

This week, The SAF Podcast, had the pleasure of speaking to John May, Managing Director, Hamilton Clark.

John is one of, if not the, leading project financier for SAF projects in the world having worked with industry leaders such as: Fulcrum BioEnergy, Gevo, LanzaJet and Fulcrum BioEnergy, among many others. John is also known for popularising Technology Risk Insurance in SAF project finance, which led to him being the first banker to receive the CAAFI award in 2019. He is the Magellan of SAF Project Finance!

Al and John discuss the challenges in finding the right investors, what sort of investors technology start ups or project licensees should be looking for as well as a deep dive into what exactly technology risk insurance is, and how it works.

John gives a tour de force in SAF financing and this is definitely not an episode to miss.

You can find out more about John's career to date here: https://www.hamiltonclark.com/team/john-m-may/

Find out more about SAF Investor here: https://www.safinvestor.com/

Host: Alasdair Whyte, SAF Investor
Producer: Oscar Henderson, SAF Investor

In our latest episode Alasdair sits down with a biofuel podcasting rockstar in Sylvain Verdier, Senior Marketing Manager, Corporate Strategy, Topsoe. Topsoe is a chemical technology company with a long history focusing in producing clean transportation fuels.

Topsoe has entered into technology partnerships across the globe with HIF Global, Phillips 66, SkyNRG, SGP BioEnergy, Global Clean Energy, Brasil Biofuels and Nacero. They have also entered into a joint venture with Sasol to begin refining Sustainable Aviation Fuel themselves, which Sylvain discusses in this episode.

Sylvain and Al also discuss a wide range of issues including Lego bricks, the issues of getting approval and what needs to happen to ensure we meet 2050 emissions targets.

For more on SAF visit: www.safinvestor.com

If you would like to find out more about Topsoe visit: https://www.topsoe.com/sustainable-aviation-fuel

You can check out Sylvain's Fuel for Thought podcast, which has season Five coming out soon here: https://renewables.topsoe.com/podcast

Host - Alasdair Whyte, SAF Investor 
Producer - Oscar Henderson, SAF Investor

In our latest episode Alasdair has a discussion with Kennedy Ricci, President 4AIR. Founded in late 2020 after the Covid Pandemic, 4AIR aims to simplify meeting aviation sustainability regulations with offerings varying from volunteer programs, regulatory compliance offerings and the SAF Inventory management and has a strong focus in the business aviation market.

Kennedy and Al talk about the importance of traceability and transparency of feedstock sources and production, how offsets and SAF need to create a full sustainability picture as well as how SAF works alongside the development of electric and hydrogen aircraft.

For more visit: https://wwhttps://www.safinvestor.com/

If you would like to find out about 4AIR visit: https://www.4air.aero/

Host: Alasdair Whyte, SAF Investor
Producer: Oscar Henderson, SAF Investor

This week Alasdair sits down with Patrick Edmond, Managing Director, Altair Advisory, to discuss why Ireland ticks all the boxes to be a Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) hub.  Altair consults across the aviation sector on matters of airline strategy and sustainability.

Patrick and Al discuss what is holding back large scale production ramp up, SAF production, what investors want to see to mitigate investment risk, the importance of clear regulations and tells us which pathway he would choose to invest in.

For more visit: www.safinvestor.com/

If you would like to find out more about Altair Advisory visit: www.altair.ie

Host: Alasdair Whyte, SAF Investor
Producer: Oscar Henderson, SAF Investor