Sustainability In The Air
Aviation has many paths to net zero, and few are straightforward. Sustainability in the Air cuts through the noise with clear, expert-led conversations on what’s actually advancing a more sustainable future for flight in one of the hardest sectors to decarbonise.
💚 Twice a month, SimpliFlying CEO Shashank Nigam speaks with airline, airport, travel, and energy leaders to unpack the decisions shaping aviation’s climate future.
💚 Each month, our Head of Sustainability Dirk Singer adds a Signal episode spotlighting the tech founders building aviation’s next wave of climate innovation.
Whether you work in aviation, advise it, or simply care about the future of travel, this podcast is for you.
For enquiries: podcast@simpliflying.com
For more content on sustainable aviation, visit simpliflying.com and join the movement. It’s about time.
Sustainability In The Air
Why Firefly Green Fuels believes waste could decarbonise aviation
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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 podcast@simpliflying.com. For more content on sustainable aviation, visit our website green.simpliflying.com and join the movement. It’s about time.
Links & More:
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
