At first glance it looks like a shipping container, but peer closer and you may see an early glimpse of the future of more sustainable aviation.
The OX1 machine located at the UK’s Oxford Airport is the culmination of years of research into the process of converting carbon dioxide and hydrogen into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Opened in September 2024, the demonstrator can produce 1kg of liquid fuel per day. It will be followed next year by a larger demo plant at Oxford Airport and later by a commercial facility.
OXCCU, the Oxford University spinoff that developed the technology, believes it can contribute to global aviation emissions reduction as the industry eyes net zero carbon emissions from operations by 2050. Aramco Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of Aramco, became an investor in OXCCU in 2023, alongside other aviation and energy industry players including United Airlines, Eni and Trafigura.
OXCCU is scaling up a novel catalyst process to convert captured CO2 and hydrogen directly into SAF in a single step. A major challenge facing the sector has been the high cost of synthesising sustainable aviation fuels, explains OXCCU CEO and co-founder Andrew Symes, who studied chemistry at Oxford before working in commodity trading and venture capital.
“What we have is a simplification of existing routes to make sustainable aviation fuel, which enables a lower cost plant and a lower operating cost process,” he says.
The OXCCU method is based on the century-old Fischer-Tropsch chemical process - but utilizing a catalyst pioneered by fellow OXCCU co-founder Dr Tiancun Xiao.
“Tiancun published a paper in 2020 that generated worldwide media coverage and which essentially showed for the first time [in the laboratory] that you could go from CO2 and hydrogen directly to the jet fuel range hydrocarbons with one catalyst in a single step – avoiding the need to make intermediates such as carbon monoxide or methanol. That is really where the cost reduction lies and sits behind our core technology,” says Symes.
While other pathways have higher capital costs due to multiple steps, as well as higher operating costs linked to lower hydrogen efficiency, OXCCU says its approach requires less hydrogen input per amount of jet fuel, which could reduce capital and operating costs, leading to a lower Power-to-Liquid (PtL) SAF.
These are important considerations as global air traffic continues to rise and the aviation industry assesses different carbon reduction technologies. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates that in order to achieve its 2050 net-zero emissions target, some 65% of the total emissions reductions will in all probability need to be achieved using SAF.
Demand for the fuel may be dictated by a number of factors including the pace of legislative requirements to adopt more sustainable fuels mandated by governments worldwide as well as the voluntary uptake of the fuels by private jet operators.
“We will probably see the emergence of markets where SAF is mandated and we may also see voluntary demand that could also be facilitated by the airlines and fuel suppliers, driven by corporates choosing to buy SAF to offset their Scope 3 emissions,” says Symes.
With much of the current feedstock for sustainable aviation fuels coming from sources such as used cooking oil and agricultural waste, the focus is turning to emerging technologies that may help in satisfying what is expected to be sharply rising demand.
Symes believes the OXCCU demonstrator is an important milestone in that journey and can be scaled up and combined with industrial facilities to utilize point source carbon dioxide emissions.
“The ultimate goal is to have a plant in operation with our technology by the end of the decade,” he says. Aramco is an investor in a number of startups supporting innovation in the energy and mobility sectors.
The OX1 machine located at the UK’s Oxford Airport is the culmination of years of research into the process of converting carbon dioxide and hydrogen into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Opened in September 2024, the demonstrator can produce 1kg of liquid fuel per day. It will be followed next year by a larger demo plant at Oxford Airport and later by a commercial facility.
OXCCU, the Oxford University spinoff that developed the technology, believes it can contribute to global aviation emissions reduction as the industry eyes net zero carbon emissions from operations by 2050. Aramco Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of Aramco, became an investor in OXCCU in 2023, alongside other aviation and energy industry players including United Airlines, Eni and Trafigura.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel
OXCCU is scaling up a novel catalyst process to convert captured CO2 and hydrogen directly into SAF in a single step. A major challenge facing the sector has been the high cost of synthesising sustainable aviation fuels, explains OXCCU CEO and co-founder Andrew Symes, who studied chemistry at Oxford before working in commodity trading and venture capital.
“What we have is a simplification of existing routes to make sustainable aviation fuel, which enables a lower cost plant and a lower operating cost process,” he says.
The OXCCU method is based on the century-old Fischer-Tropsch chemical process - but utilizing a catalyst pioneered by fellow OXCCU co-founder Dr Tiancun Xiao.
“Tiancun published a paper in 2020 that generated worldwide media coverage and which essentially showed for the first time [in the laboratory] that you could go from CO2 and hydrogen directly to the jet fuel range hydrocarbons with one catalyst in a single step – avoiding the need to make intermediates such as carbon monoxide or methanol. That is really where the cost reduction lies and sits behind our core technology,” says Symes.
While other pathways have higher capital costs due to multiple steps, as well as higher operating costs linked to lower hydrogen efficiency, OXCCU says its approach requires less hydrogen input per amount of jet fuel, which could reduce capital and operating costs, leading to a lower Power-to-Liquid (PtL) SAF.
Net zero challenge
These are important considerations as global air traffic continues to rise and the aviation industry assesses different carbon reduction technologies. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates that in order to achieve its 2050 net-zero emissions target, some 65% of the total emissions reductions will in all probability need to be achieved using SAF.
Demand for the fuel may be dictated by a number of factors including the pace of legislative requirements to adopt more sustainable fuels mandated by governments worldwide as well as the voluntary uptake of the fuels by private jet operators.
“We will probably see the emergence of markets where SAF is mandated and we may also see voluntary demand that could also be facilitated by the airlines and fuel suppliers, driven by corporates choosing to buy SAF to offset their Scope 3 emissions,” says Symes.
With much of the current feedstock for sustainable aviation fuels coming from sources such as used cooking oil and agricultural waste, the focus is turning to emerging technologies that may help in satisfying what is expected to be sharply rising demand.
Symes believes the OXCCU demonstrator is an important milestone in that journey and can be scaled up and combined with industrial facilities to utilize point source carbon dioxide emissions.
“The ultimate goal is to have a plant in operation with our technology by the end of the decade,” he says. Aramco is an investor in a number of startups supporting innovation in the energy and mobility sectors.
