In this episode, Dirk Singer speaks with James Hygate, Founder and CEO of Firefly Green Fuels, about one of the more unconventional and potentially scalable sustainable aviation fuel pathways: converting sewage biosolids into jet fuel.

Hygate discusses: 

• Why Firefly is “feedstock-led”, and why that matters more than the technology
• How sewage biosolids emerged as the preferred feedstock for Firefly due to their abundance, consistency, and increasing difficulty of disposal.
• How hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) works like “a pressure cooker” to turn sewage into biocrude and biochar 
• Why Firefly believes its fuel could achieve over 90% lifecycle CO2 savings, potentially even becoming carbon-negative
• How sewage-to-SAF could scale in the UK  and why it could “come from left field” in mandate maths
• What is required for SAF projects to be bankable including long-term feedstock supply and offtake agreements
• How sewage-based SAF can reach cost parity with Jet A

If you LOVED this episode, you’ll also love the conversation we had with Dr Mar Fernández-Méndez, Co-founder of MacroCarbon, who shares how the startup plans to turn seaweed into SAF. Check it out here. 

Learn more about the innovators who are navigating the industry’s challenges to make sustainable aviation a reality, in our new book ‘Sustainability in the Air: Volume 2’. Click here to learn more.

Feel free to reach out via email to [email protected]. For more content on sustainable aviation, visit our website green.simpliflying.com and join the movement. It’s about time.

Links & More:

Firefly Green Fuels

What & How - Firefly

Poop-powered planes: Could jet fuel made from sewage take off? - CNN

Wizz Air and Firefly collaborate on turning human waste into SAF - Biofuels International Magazine