Jonathan Wood, NPT CCO, presents on SAF Cafe

Nova Pangaea Technologies’ (NPT) Chief Commercial Officer, Jonathan Wood, had the pleasure of presenting on Innovate UK Business Connect’s, SAF Café – “2G Ethanol as a Pathway to SAF.”

In a candid and insightful session yesterday, Jonathan explored the critical role of biomass residues in enabling a net zero future for aviation.  Key takeaways included:

• The SAF journey is hugely ambitious and complex, but not one we can afford to shy away from
• Most projects are still pre-FID
• Cost reduction is critical
• Success depends on significant investment, strategic partnerships, a portfolio approach, pragmatism, and policy support to catalyse this new industry

He also highlighted the advantages of lignocellulosic feedstocks – a sustainable, non-food biomass source that is key to scaling Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).  Jonathan discussed NPT’s REFNOVA® technology which converts woody and non-food derived agricultural residues into the high value products 2G cellulosic ethanol and biochar. The 2G ethanol can be utilised through the alcohol to jet (AtJ) pathway to enable the production of advanced biofuels such as Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). The biochar, a natural carbon removal product, delivers an immediate decarbonization benefit as it is a form of permanent CO₂ sequestration. As a result, the overall production process has a negative carbon intensity. And the biochar also has applications in its own right, such as for soil improvement and as a filler in cement and asphalt.

The session wrapped up with an engaging Q&A where attendees explored everything from policy to pricing to feedstock.

You can watch the session by clicking here: SAF Cafe Session 22: 2G ethanol as a pathway to SAF (Jonathan Wood, Nova Pangaea) on Vimeo.