{"id":5959,"date":"2024-08-16T16:13:37","date_gmt":"2024-08-16T15:13:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenairnews.com\/?p=5959"},"modified":"2024-12-05T19:32:33","modified_gmt":"2024-12-05T19:32:33","slug":"new-investment-funds-clear-sky-and-saffa-target-sustainable-aviation-financing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenairnews.com\/?p=5959","title":{"rendered":"New investment funds Clear Sky and SAFFA target sustainable aviation financing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Two new global investment funds focused on sustainable aviation \u2013 one backed by Airbus, the other by Boeing \u2013 have announced their first projects as concerns deepen across the air transport sector about a lack of capital to develop new fuels, infrastructure and technologies. Clear Sky has been launched by a team of aviation and finance executives to accelerate a range of projects that help cut aviation emissions. Clear Sky’s first commitment is a co-investment with Boeing in UK-based startup Firefly Green Fuels, which plans to convert sewage waste feedstock into SAF. A second consortium of seven prominent aviation and finance groups has established the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Financing Alliance (SAFFA), focused purely on speeding up production of SAF. Led by Airbus, SAFFA has invested in US-based Crysalis Biosciences, which has purchased a decommissioned ethanol plant in Illinois and converted it to produce low carbon intensity SAF and biochemicals.  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Clear Sky has been developed by six partners<\/a>  \u2013 Krishnan Narayanan, a former partner and regional leader at PWC Strategy&, with broad experience in sustainability and new technologies; Simon Talling-Smith, a former CCO of Qatar Airways and EVP at British Airways, and a specialist in innovative technologies; Glenn Morgan, a former CTO of International Airlines Group (IAG) and founder of its Hangar 51 innovation programme; Robert Boyle, a former Chief Strategy Officer at IAG;  Kurt Stache, a former CMO of American Airlines; and Julia Sattel, a former president of travel technology group Amadeus and VP Strategic Marketing at Toshiba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its multi-strand investment strategy covers sustainable aviation fuel, carbon removal systems, alternative propulsion technologies, innovative ground operations and materials recycling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur analysis showed sustainable aviation was highly underpenetrated when it came to capital, particularly alternative investment capital,\u201d said Clear Sky founding partner Narayanan<\/a>. \u201cBy various estimates, up to $5 trillion of capital will be required over the next three decades for aviation to get to net zero. So there\u2019s clearly more capital required, but it needs to be invested in the right things in the right way by the right experts. And I think generalist funds generally struggle to do that. Hopefully by having a bunch of aviation experts act as a catalyst we can achieve both of those things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together with Boeing, with which it has formed a broader partnership to invest in sustainable aviation and related sectors, Clear Sky announced<\/a> during the recent Farnborough Airshow that it will support Firefly Green Fuels<\/a> in transforming sewage waste feedstock through hydrothermal liquefaction, a process which uses heat and high pressure to convert waste into biocrude oil and biochar, a powdery product which can be used as fertiliser. The companies claim that SAF produced through this process could reduce lifecycle CO2 emissions by over 90%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSAF offers the greatest opportunity to decarbonise aviation, and the industry\u2019s collective challenge of bringing it to scale globally requires new sustainable pathways,\u201d said Boeing\u2019s Chief Sustainability Officer, Brian Moran. \u201cClear Sky combines many years of investment expertise with knowledge on aviation\u2019s decarbonisation challenges. Firefly\u2019s technology holds transformative potential as the SAF feedstock \u2013 sewage waste \u2013 is accessible in all regions of the globe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Firefly CEO James Hygate said his company was clearing the way to \u201ccost competitive and globally available fuel\u201d in a market where demand for SAF well outstrips supply. \u201cWith the support of Clear Sky and Boeing, we are propelling toward our goal of commercial production in the UK by 2029,\u201d he said, \u201cand rapid replication across the globe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clear Sky\u2019s Narayanan welcomed the partnership with Boeing \u2013 \u201cundoubtedly a leader in advancing aviation\u2019s decarbonisation journey\u201d \u2013 and signalled more projects would be announced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coinciding with the Firefly deal, travel technology group Amadeus<\/a> also signed a letter of intent to invest in the debut fund from Clear Sky. \u201cThe journey toward sustainability in the travel industry is one we must undertake together,\u201d said Decius Valmorbida, President of Travel, Amadeus.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Airbus is leading the new SAFFA<\/a> investment fund with big-name partners Air France-KLM Group, Associated Energy Group, BNP Paribas, financial services and capital group Burnham Sterling, Mitsubishi HC Capital and Australia\u2019s Qantas Group. The companies, which collectively have committed approximately $200 million, partnered with Burnham Sterling Asset Management to establish the alliance, which aims to accelerate SAF production and provide members with priority access to the fuel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SAFFA\u2019s first investment is in technology company Crysalis Biosciences<\/a>, which is focused on renewing US chemical production infrastructure with new fuel and chemical technologies. Crysalis recently acquired and upgraded the Monarch facility, a decommissioned ethanol plant in Sauget, Illinois, and has just secured environmental approvals to produce low carbon intensity SAF and biochemicals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEach partner brings experience and financial expertise to the fund with the ambition to accelerate the availability of SAF by investing mainly in technologically mature SAF-producing projects using, for instance, waste-based feedstocks,\u201d said Airbus. \u201cInvestments will be diversified across various SAF production pathways and also by region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEach partner may then enter into priority contracts to secure SAF offtakes from the various projects SAFFA will invest in for its allocated volumes. SAFFA is focusing on SAF that is eligible for RefuelEU Aviation or CORSIA (Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation) certification.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Photo: Krishnan Narayanan (Clear Sky), Brian Moran (Boeing) and James Hygate (Firefly) sign investment agreement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n