Sustainability In The Air

• How the oneworld BEV Fund is accelerating next generation SAF technologies

  In this episode, we speak with Matthew Ridley, Director of Sustainability and Innovation at the oneworld Alliance, who shares the story behind the groundbreaking $150 million Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) fund launched in partnership with the alliance’s member airlines and Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV).Ridley discusses:The alliance investment advantage: How pooling resources across oneworld members creates access to world-class venture capital expertise, superior deal flow, more diverse portfolios, and geographical networks.Breakthrough Energy’s unprecedented value: Why partnering with BEV provides access to talent airlines struggle to attract, plus synergies with investments in nuclear fusion, energy transmission, and geologic hydrogen.Next-generation focus vs. current needs: How the oneworld BEV fund targets technologies that can take aviation beyond 5-10% SAF adoption to truly change the trajectory of decarbonisation, complementing existing investments.Breaking the alliance mould: How oneworld moved beyond traditional codeshares and interlining to tackle “initiatives of scale”, and how they attracted Singapore Airlines to join despite not being a oneworld member.Reframing aviation’s challenge: Why the problem isn’t aviation itself, but rather the emissions from jet fuel, the only aspect of flight that hasn’t changed since the Kitty Hawk.Ridley also shares insights from his seven years building IAG’s Hangar 51, where he led first-mover investments in ZeroAvia and LanzaJet, and explains why SAF isn’t a transition fuel but rather a permanent solution once emissions are addressed.If you LOVED this episode, you’ll also love the conversation we had with Pasha Saleh, Head of Corporate Development at Alaska Airlines, who shares how the airline is investing in sustainable aviation technologies to achieve its ambitious climate goals. 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 [email protected]. For more content on sustainable aviation, visit our website green.simpliflying.com and join the movement. It’s about time.Links & More:Sustainability - oneworld oneworld becomes first airline alliance to join IATA CO2 connect - IATA oneworld airline partners join with Breakthrough Energy Ventures to invest in new SAF technologies - GreenAir News How Alaska Star Ventures is funding the future of sustainable aviation - SimpliFlying 

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• From problem to solution: How sargassum seaweed could power sustainable aviation

  In this episode, we speak with Dr. Mar Fernández-Méndez, founder of MacroCarbon and professor at the University of Bremen, about her journey from Arctic ice researcher to seaweed entrepreneur. Dr. Fernández shares how she's turning pelagic sargassum into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) while creating a carbon-negative process that enhances marine biodiversity.Dr. Fernández discusses:How Sargassum differs from other algae approaches, avoiding the pitfalls that have plagued microalgae biofuel attempts for decades.MacroCarbon's integrated biorefinery that produces multiple revenue streams: bio-stimulants for agriculture, biochar for permanent carbon sequestration, carbon black for tyres and batteries, and ultimately SAF through Fischer-Tropsch synthesis.The company's unique approach to hydrogen production, generating its own hydrogen internally rather than requiring external green hydrogen inputs.Competitive economics at scale: producing SAF for lower than current market biofuel prices, while being species-agnostic and able to use any brown or green seaweed.The roadmap from pilot to first-of-a-kind commercial facility in the Canary Islands, then expansion to Morocco, Azores, Cape Verde, and the Caribbean.Balancing academia and entrepreneurship: maintaining her professorship while commercialising proven technology, and the parallels between academic grant-writing and startup fundraising.The importance of storytelling in deep tech, moving beyond just having good data to communicating vision effectively for investors.The "BlueSaf Plus" vision for 2035: carbon-negative biofuels that enhance marine biodiversity by maintaining floating ecosystems, proving we can have both healthy oceans and sustainable aviation.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 [email protected]. For more content on sustainable aviation, visit our website green.simpliflying.com and join the movement. It's about time.Links & more:MacroCarbonDr. Mar Fernández-Méndez - Alfred Wegener InstituteDr. Mar Fernández-Méndez - LinkedInCanary Islands Marine Science & Technology ParkEU ReFuelEU Aviation Mandate

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• How Vancouver International Airport is racing to net zero by 2030

  In this episode, we speak with Tamara Vrooman, CEO of Vancouver International Airport (YVR), who shares how the airport has committed to achieving net zero by 2030, and the detailed roadmap they’ve developed to get there.Vrooman discusses:YVR’s accelerated net zero timeline: How they moved from a 2040 target to 2030 by creating a detailed, measurable roadmap with component parts that track progress.Four pathways to net zero: Capital build improvements (including Canada’s largest geo-exchange system with over 800 wells), conservation initiatives, sustainable fuels adoption, and comprehensive data monitoring.Airports’ role in energy transition: How centrally providing electrification and sustainable energy infrastructure to all airport users creates far greater impact than individual airline or tenant initiatives, positioning airports as critical energy hubs.Building British Columbia’s SAF ecosystem: YVR’s partnerships with Air Canada, the provincial government, and regional airports to address the SAF supply chain challenge.ACI Level 4+ certification and accountability: Why data-driven accreditation matters for validating progress, enabling peer collaboration, and ensuring return on investment.The SAF supply-demand paradox: Airlines are willing to purchase SAF and demand exists, but inconsistent supply remains the critical bottleneck.Vrooman also shares leadership insights from her past roles, including leading Vancity Credit Union to achieve net zero and serving as British Columbia’s youngest female Deputy Finance Minister, where she helped design North America’s first carbon tax. If you LOVED this episode, you’ll also love the conversation we had with Christina Cassotis, CEO of Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT), who shares her vision for transforming the airport into a sustainable aviation hub. 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 [email protected]. For more content on sustainable aviation, visit our website green.simpliflying.com and join the movement. It’s about time.Links & More:Vancouver International Airport - YVRFrom ground to sky: four sustainability actions at YVR - YVRHow YVR is reimagining the airport experience by blending CX, commercial innovation, and sustainability - FTE  Why airports should become energy innovation hubs, not just transport hubs - SimpliFlying 

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• How Syzygy Plasmonics is turning biogas into cost-competitive sustainable aviation fuel

  In this episode, we speak with Trevor Best, Co-founder and CEO of Syzygy Plasmonics, who shares how his company’s proprietary photocatalytic technology converts waste biogas into sustainable aviation fuel, and has the potential to reach fossil jet fuel parity. Best discusses:NovaSAF’s unique value proposition: converting biogas from landfills, dairy farms, and wastewater treatment plants into SAF, simultaneously addressing methane emissions whilst decarbonising aviation transport.The technology’s competitive advantage: using light instead of heat which enables the use of raw biogas without extensive cleanup, scaling efficiently at smaller sites, and increasing yield by incorporating CO2 into the fuel rather than separating it out.Strategic targeting of stranded biogas assets that are far from natural gas grids, which helps secure feedstock at low prices $5-6 per MMBtu, making jet fuel parity achievable.How Syzygy is building the world’s first biogas-to-SAF plant in Uruguay, that can produce 400,000 gallons of SAF anually, serving as proof of concept before scaling to 100,000 tons per year by 2030 through clustered developments.The global biogas opportunity: the International Energy Agency estimates reserves could theoretically produce 580 million tons per year of SAF, exceeding total global jet fuel consumption, though 95% remains stranded today.Best also shares his leadership philosophy: the importance of listening over talking, the inevitability of failure in entrepreneurship, and why persistence matters more than avoiding mistakes.If you LOVED this episode, you’ll also love the conversation we had with Dave Kettner, President and General Counsel at Virent, who shares the company’s pivotal role in shaping a sustainable future in aviation. 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 [email protected]. For more content on sustainable aviation, visit our website green.simpliflying.com and join the movement. It’s about time.Links & More:Syzygy PlasmonicsSyzygy Plasmonics begins development of the world's first electrified biogas-to-SAF plant - PR NewswireSyzygy Plasmonics outlines dual-certified, cost effective RFNBO and Bio SAF solution as Europe calls for urgent action on Net-Zero aviation - BioEnergy TimesSyzygy Plasmonics and Velocys partner for sustainable aviation fuel production in Uruguay - ChemAnalyst    

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• How two young women are revolutionising direct air capture with supercapacitor technology

  In this episode, we speak with Silvia Pugliese and Monica Larrazabal, co-founders of Norma and the only all-female founding team among the c.150 direct air capture startups operating today. They share how their breakthrough supercapacitor approach could drastically slash the energy requirements of carbon capture.Pugliese and Larrazabal discuss:How they discovered a way to "cheat" on energy requirements by combining supercapacitor energy storage technology with CO2 capture, creating a hybrid device that recycles energy through each capture cycle.Their modular approach with desk-sized units that can be deployed anywhere, contrasting with competitors' massive industrial facilities requiring hundreds of millions in funding.The company's measured approach to cost projections, deliberately avoiding the over-promising that has plagued the DAC industry, while still targeting dramatic improvements over current $600-1000 per tonne costs.Securing pre-seed funding led by Contrarian VC, known for rigorous DAC due diligence, and landing MilkyWire as their first commercial client despite being in early development stages.Their 2025-2030 roadmap: pilot testing in 2026, first commercial facility by 2029, and targeting megatonne-scale operations by 2030.How airlines could use their CO2 for e-fuel production, with potential applications ranging from direct air capture and storage to point source capture, leveraging the technology's versatility.The founders also discuss the challenges of being female entrepreneurs in a male-dominated deep tech sector, their base in central Paris near the Marie Curie museum, and their vision of normalising female-led climate tech companies by 2035.Larrazabal explains why the DAC industry is in its "innovation decade" similar to renewable energy in the 1960s-70s, and why they believe they've found the "solar PV moment" for carbon capture.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 [email protected]. For more content on sustainable aviation, visit our website green.simpliflying.com and join the movement. It's about time.Links & more:NormaContrarian VCMilkyWireHeirloom Carbon (Monica's former employer)Marble - Climate Tech Accelerator (where Norma was incubated)

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