OXCCU, a climate tech spin-out company from the University of Oxford, that transforms carbon dioxide into fuels, chemicals, and plastics, has launched its inaugural demonstration plant, OX1, at Oxford Airport, for the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
Located at London Oxford Airport and operated by OXCCU, this first-of-its-kind facility will produce 1 kg (1.2 litres) of liquid fuel per day starting in September 2024. It represents the world’s first demonstration of a direct, single-step conversion of CO2 and H2 into jet fuel range hydrocarbons, minimising oxygenated byproducts thanks to OXCCU’s innovative catalyst.
This plant is a key step in OXCCU’s scaling journey and will provide crucial data for the design and operation of the larger 160 kg (200 liters) per day OX2 plant, set to begin at Saltend Chemical Park Hull in 2026, followed by commercial plants supplying SAF across the UK and beyond.
Unlike other Power-to-Liquid (PtL) fuel technologies, OXCCU’s single-step process bypasses the traditionally energy-intensive step of converting CO2 to CO, thereby reducing costs and improving efficiency in SAF production.
Andrew Symes, CEO of OXCCU said, “We’re beyond excited to launch the OX1 plant, located close to where OXCCU was born. The fuel we’ve already made in a single step from CO2 in the lab has created great excitement with its potential to massively reduce the cost of SAF, but the scale up is key, and this plant will generate the data and litres of fuel we need. Our mission is to enable future generations to fly without a climate impact, and to do that we need cost-effective PtL SAF. This launch marks a key step in achieving that goal.”
