SAF Startup Aims High Via Methanol-To-Jet Fuel Demo Plant, SWISS Deal

A SWISS International craft re-fuels astatine Zurich Airport, Switzerland.

SWISS International Airlines, August 2026.

Sustainable aviation substance startup Metafuels - a pioneer of the world’s first methanol-to-jet SAF exertion - has taken a measurement toward commercialization by unveiling its objection works astatine the Paul Scherrer Institute successful Switzerland.

The company’s move comes a conscionable a matter of months aft it inked a strategical business pinch SWISS International Airlines, a starring bearer of the Lufthansa Group.

The plant, unveiled past week, for Metafuels’ trademarked "Aerobrew" e-SAF marks the company’s progression from conception to objection shape successful conscionable nether 4 years astatine a gait that's beautiful atypical successful the industry.

Demonstrating An Efficient Pathway

The "e" prefix is based connected a SAF manufacturing process that uses renewable energy. Firms producing aliases aiming to nutrient e-SAFs usually do truthful by deploying the Fischer-Tropsch process. It is simply a series of chemic reactions that converts a operation of c monoxide and hydrogen, aliases synthetic gas, into liquid hydrocarbons.

However, Metafuels opted for an replacement synthetic substance pathway known arsenic methanol synthesis erstwhile it embarked connected its travel successful 2021. The institution collaborated pinch PSI, Switzerland's largest investigation hub for earthy and engineering sciences, and now the location of its demo plant.

The chosen pathway involves either producing methanol from c monoxide and hydrogen astatine precocious unit utilizing zinc oxide and copper arsenic catalysts, aliases utilizing an existing sustainable methanol feedstock, and subsequently synthesizing a longer-chain hydrocarbon for illustration pitchy substance from methanol.

The process deploys further steps and the usage of a catalyst to nutrient the desired chemic reactions for Metafuels, CEO Saurabh Kapoor said successful an interview.

"Four years agone we group retired to person the world that we person a lead connected competitors connected converting methanol to SAF selectively and efficiently, utilizing our process. Our demo works pinch a capacity of 50 liters [or conscionable complete 13 gallons] a time will service arsenic a conveyance to beryllium this to the world.

"Furthermore, we judge that if you put a Fischer-Tropsch task and our task connected the aforesaid location, each different conditions being equal, the anticipated costs of accumulation of our e-SAF will apt beryllium astir 50% little and the output astir 80% higher. Few tin contradict these are immense numbers successful position of costs savings and ratio gains."

Road To Commercialization

The world’s first methanol-to-jet SAF exertion demo works now assumes the mantle of real-world testing for Metafuels connected the roadworthy to commercialization.

The first commercialized staging station for the institution would beryllium its Turbe e-SAF works successful the Port of Rotterdam, The Netherlands, a awesome world power and petrochemicals hub.

To support task improvement activities done to last finance determination ["or FID"], including front-end engineering and creation [or “FEED”], readying and ineligible owed diligence and commercialized development, Metafuels raised $24 cardinal successful a Series A backing information successful February.

The round was led by UVC Partners, successful conjunction pinch Energy Impact Partners, Contrarian Ventures, RockCreek, Verve Ventures and Fortescue Ventures. In April, it besides secured a €1.92 cardinal ($2.25 million) assistance from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency to beforehand the Rotterdam site.

"Securing this backing and the Dutch assistance correspond a validation of our attack and exertion for scaling e-SAF production, and the merits of the Turbe project," Kapoor said.

"The demo works will thief de-risk our commercial-scale units, generating the information and operational acquisition for Turbe. We are targeting accumulation from 2030 taking it to marketplace via the Port of Rotterdam, an perfect location to present large-scale synthetic substance projects."

The FEED statement for the installation was awarded to world engineering, procurement and building patient McDermott successful December. Metafuels is besides successful early discussions for a works successful Denmark.

An enticing, albeit challenging marketplace awaits. According to projections offered by the International Energy Agency and the International Air Transport Association, the imaginable marketplace size of e-SAFs could good beryllium successful the scope of 80-120 cardinal gallons by 2050.

Kapoor reckons it could beryllium moreover bigger contingent upon marketplace conditions and section factors impacting various aviation hubs.

"Only point we tin committedness is that our Aerobrew tin switch accepted pitchy substance sloppy of the size, type of aircraft, and short-haul aliases long-haul. Our ambition is to do azygous e-SAF accumulation trains of up to 2,000 tons (around 670,000 gallons) a day, making our offering highly scalable."

A SAF Opportunity SWISS Can’t Miss

Kapoor added that while his institution remains successful talks various airlines, an early collaboration pinch SWISS is some a milestone and an affirmation of the domiciled that e-SAFs will play successful the early of aviation.

The business presented Switzerland's emblem bearer and 1 of European aviation's astir recognizable brands an opportunity that it did not wish to miss, said SWISS CEO Jens Fehlinger.

"As an airline, we are doing everything wrong our powerfulness to actively thrust the translator and decarbonization of aviation forward. Our collaboration pinch Metafuels is statement pinch that objective."

"Ultimately, it is clear not conscionable to america arsenic an hose but the wider manufacture that achieving decarbonization goals will now require industrial-scale production. Sustainable fuels must go disposable overmuch faster, astatine affordable prices and successful importantly larger quantities successful the future."

Metafuels’ exertion raises the imaginable of uncovering solutions for decarbonization "within the existing strategy and infrastructure" and that excessively pinch a home-grown company, Fehlinger added.

The SWISS CEO, a erstwhile Airbus aviator himself, besides noted that alongside SAF investigation and imaginable proviso concatenation partnerships of the quality it has pinch Metafuels, his hose continues to return extended action to minimize the c emissions from its formation operations.

This includes investing successful precocious and fuel-efficient aircraft. SWISS presently has 10 Airbus A350-900 craft connected bid pinch deliveries moving done to 2031. "With newer craft successful play, the usage of sustainable aviation substance becomes an important lever for reducing c emissions further."

That matters fixed its awesome bases - Zurich and Geneva - are some world connector hubs arsenic good arsenic airports serving 2 awesome centers of business and finance. In 2025, Zurich and Geneva airports handled astir 33 cardinal and 18 cardinal passengers respectively.

"Upscaling the SAF accumulation is astir the longer-term successful an manufacture that has to stay agile week-to-week fixed the absorbing and challenging times we unrecorded in. Of late, location person been respective challenges thrown astatine america successful comparatively short play of time.

"As an manufacture we person yet to wholly digest the Covid pandemic and its domino effect connected proviso chains. Geopolitics has besides kept america engaged from Russian airspace closures [for Western carriers] aft the Ukraine warfare to the Middle East and its effect of the aviation substance market."

However, Fehlinger noted that these developments should not mean that the manufacture turns its backmost connected sustainability, but alternatively finds pathways of the benignant SWISS is attempting pinch Metafuels.

He observed that successful times for illustration the coming erstwhile the power trilemma - of manging affordability, information and sustainability - looms large, "scalability and efficiency" of SAF accumulation could spell a agelong measurement successful furthering decarbonization successful the aviation sector.

Providing that very pathway for lower-emission aerial recreation is the large commercialized play and trading constituent for Metafuels, insisted CEO Kapoor.

"Our thought is to present up to 90% little lifecycle emissions than fossil kerosene astatine a competitory accumulation cost. I americium assured the fewer gallons from our demo works of coming will beryllium the ground of bigger business volumes that travel successful the very adjacent future."

The aviation and SAF manufacture will apt support an oculus connected what whitethorn travel astatine Metafuels beautiful keenly. Afterall, IATA is targeting a net-zero c emissions sky by 2050 pinch SAFs expected to lend 65% of the full reduction. Methanol-to-jet SAF exertion mightiness beryllium the answer.