Minimising the Non-CO2 Effects of a Power to Liquid, Sustainable Aviation Fuel

A company called OXCCU has built a pilot plant at Oxford Airport that turns captured carbon dioxide and green hydrogen into a synthetic crude oil, called OXEFUEL, at a rate of 1.2 litres per day. This matters because aviation is hard to decarbonise—batteries are too heavy for long flights, and existing sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) often require new engines or fuel systems. OXCCU’s fuel is a “drop-in” SAF, meaning it can be used in existing aircraft and infrastructure without modification. The key problem is that OXEFUEL’s unique chemical composition makes it incompatible with standard refinery processes at small scales. This project will design and validate a custom micro-refinery to produce a certified SAF blend component that meets ASTM standards. If successful, the approach could offer a practical route to lower-carbon aviation without requiring airlines to reconfigure their fleets or airports to install new fuel-handling equipment. The fuel is also designed to minimise non-CO2 emissions—such as contrails and particulates—which currently account for roughly two-thirds of aviation’s climate impact. The work is applied engineering, not fundamental science, and its immediate value lies in enabling a certifiable, scalable production pathway for a cleaner drop-in fuel.