Velocys is pleased to announce the appointment of Dawid Duvenhage in the role of Vice President, Catalysis based in the Columbus office.
Dawid has over 30 years of industrial and academic experience in heterogeneous catalysis, syngas production and syngas clean-up. He also has a strong background in process data analytics, process performance audits, test run planning and execution, and technology management.
Prior to joining us, Dawid worked at Rentech where he developed syngas conversion catalysts. His research background includes experience at Sundrop Fuels, deriving clean syngas from the high temperature reforming of biomass. He has held research and management positions within the Sasol Group of companies where he developed, scaled up, implemented and supported low and high temperature Fischer-Tropsch catalyst technologies.
Dawid holds an MSc and a PhD in chemistry, specialising in Fischer-Tropsch catalyst deactivation and supported iron and cobalt catalyst development.
This year’s ABLC conference was held in San Francisco where Jeff McDaniel, Velocys VP of New Projects, gave a presentation as part of the conference’s ‘Sustainable Fuels Summit’ on the planned Bayou Fuels refinery in Natchez, Mississippi. He also showed a computer generated visualisation of the new sustainable fuels plant.
The United States government has set commercial aviation a target of a 20% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and of being fully zero carbon by 2050. McDaniel described how Velocys’ end-to-end technology solution will help achieve these targets, producing sustainable aviation fuel from woody biomass waste from forestry operations.
The biofuels refinery will also use renewable power and carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. Carbon dioxide that is produced as a by-product of the waste-to-fuels process will be captured and sequestered underground. This will lead to an end product that has an overall negative carbon impact.
Velocys were pleased to have the opportunity to reconnect in person with colleagues from across the biofuels sector at this exciting time for sustainable fuels.
>> View the computer generated visualisation of the Bayou Fuels plant
Velocys has welcomed the recognition in the Government’s newly published Net Zero Strategy that sustainable fuels are a practical way to decarbonise the aviation sector.
In the document the Prime Minister says: “Our strategy for net zero is to lead the world in ending our contribution to climate change, while turning this mission into the greatest opportunity for jobs and prosperity for our country since the industrial revolution.” £180 million of funding has been committed to support the development of SAF plants such as Altalto in Humberside.
Velocys’ high performance catalyst and reactor technology, used with carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS), can produce aviation fuel with negative-carbon emissions. In a significant step forward, the East Coast Cluster, which includes the Altalto plant, has been selected by Government for Track 1 of the CCUS cluster sequencing process.
Velocys looks forward to building on the current engagement it has with Government to make the UK a world leader in sustainable fuels technology.
Velocys has today launched a website for the Bayou Fuels reference project that will use Velocys FT technology to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from waste woody biomass. This fuel will have an overall negative carbon impact through the use of renewable power and carbon capture and storage (CCS), which sequesters underground the carbon dioxide that is produced as a by-product of the waste-to-fuel process.
The new Bayou Fuels website is now online – www.bayoufuels.com – and shows the scale and benefits of the project, which will be located in Natchez, Mississippi. It highlights the important role for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in reaching targets for emissions reduction and ultimately net zero. Plans for the facility and Velocys’ integrated technology are demonstrated. The website provides summary information on this first-of-its-kind facility.
The Bayou Fuels brand includes a trademarked name and logo as well as a dedicated colour palette to reflect its individual identity. The launch recognises the significant progress of the project along with political strides forward at federal and state level.
The Bayou Fuels plant will enable the commercial-scale production of negative-carbon liquid fuels to help deliver net zero carbon aviation by 2050. Once operational, the plant will have a nameplate capacity of 25 million gallons per annum of negative carbon intensity SAF which can be blended with conventional Jet A to deliver net zero fuel to airlines.
The project has received noteworthy local support in Mississippi, with the Mayor of Natchez, Dan Gibson, calling the project “historic”. Chandler Ross, Executive Director of local development support organisation, Natchez Inc, commented, “This is a huge opportunity for us and the benefit to the county is more than $1 billion of capital outlay to the site”.
This local endorsement mirrors the significant federal support for the development of a domestic SAF industry in the United States. The Biden White House recently committed to producing billions of gallons of SAF to reduce aviation emissions of greenhouse gases. The White House briefing paper cited Velocys as a project that will “help us achieve our 2030 goals”.
Other federal initiatives include the launch of a new Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge to inspire a dramatic increase in the production of SAF to at least 3 billion gallons per year by 2030 and providing financial support for SAF projects and fuel producers totalling up to $4.3 billion alongside ongoing funding opportunities.
Velocys has welcomed these developments and recognises the prime position of the Bayou Fuels project to meet SAF demand and net zero goals in the USA. The new Bayou Fuels website and brand will help drive future growth in this initiative.
Velocys has appeared at the second annual Net Zero Festival, organised by leading industry publication Business Green, in a segment titled ‘Embracing Net Zero Technology’. The session presented a roundup of some of the most exciting, game-changing, clean technologies and provided insights into how they can be deployed to transform markets and drive down emissions.
Velocys’ Vice President Waste to Fuels, Dr Neville Hargreaves, gave a presentation on the role that the company’s technology could play in reaching net zero. He said, “We at Velocys are taking something we don’t want – waste – and create something we can’t do without in a net zero world – sustainable aviation fuel”.
Dr Hargreaves discussed how aviation’s need for the high power and energy density that liquid fuels provide makes the move to new powertrains like battery and hydrogen fuel cells difficult. Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is unique in its maturity and requires no changes to aircraft or infrastructure. It is the only long term solution that can address emissions from medium and long haul flights.
He described Velocys’ UK reference project, Altalto, which will take municipal solid waste to produce fuel that will deliver a net CO2 saving of up to 70%, with the potential to achieve over 100% savings with Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), once that infrastructure is in place in the Humber region.
Dr Hargreaves concluded, “At Velocys, we believe a new era of green flying is on the horizon, and it’s an incredibly exciting prospect”.
Velocys plc (VLS.L), the sustainable fuels technology company, is pleased to announce that Henrik Wareborn, CEO, and Andrew Morris, CFO, will provide a live presentation relating to the interim results for the period ending 30 June 2021 via the Investor Meet Company platform on Friday 1st October 2021 at 10.30am BST.
The presentation is open to all existing and potential shareholders. Questions can be submitted pre-event via your Investor Meet Company dashboard up until 9am the day before the meeting or at any time during the live presentation.
Investors can sign up to Investor Meet Company for free and add to meet VELOCYS PLC via: https://www.investormeetcompany.com/velocys-plc/register-investor
Investors who already follow VELOCYS PLC on the Investor Meet Company platform will automatically be invited.
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For further information, please contact:
Velocys
Henrik Wareborn, CEO
Andrew Morris, CFO
Lak Siriwardene, Director of Communications & Sustainability
+44 1865 800821
Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited (Nomad and Joint Broker)
Hugh Rich (Corporate Broking)
Emma Earl (Corporate Finance)
John Prior (Corporate Finance)
+44 20 7886 2500
Shore Capital Stockbrokers Limited (Joint Broker)
Henry Willcocks (Corporate Broking)
Toby Gibbs (Corporate Advisory)
James Thomas (Corporate Advisory)
Liam Zabludowicz (Corporate Advisory)
+44 20 7408 4090
Radnor Capital (Investor Relations)
Joshua Cryer
Iain Daly
+44 20 3897 1830
Field Consulting (General PR)
Rob Jeffery
+44 20 3697 7953
Notes to Editors
Velocys is an international UK-based sustainable fuels technology company. Velocys designed, developed and now licenses proprietary Fischer-Tropsch technology for the generation of clean, low carbon, synthetic drop-in aviation and road transport fuel from residual woody biomass and municipal solid waste. The Velocys technology can also enable the production of zero carbon fuels for the airline industry from renewable power and CO2.
Velocys is at present developing two reference projects: the Bayou Fuels project in Natchez, Mississippi, USA (incorporating Carbon Capture and Storage) and the Altalto project in Immingham, UK, to produce fuels that significantly reduce both greenhouse gas emissions and key exhaust pollutants for aviation and road transport. Originally a spin-out from Oxford University, in 2008 the Company acquired a US company based on complementary reactor technology developed at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Velocys is headquartered in Oxford in the United Kingdom.
Velocys plc (VLS.L), the sustainable fuels technology company, is pleased to announce its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2021.
Interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2021 (23-Sep-2021)
Velocys has been cited in a White House briefing paper which sets out the Biden administration’s plans to increase the use of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) over the coming years to meet net zero and economic goals.
In the briefing FACT SHEET: Biden Administration Advances the Future of Sustainable Fuels in American Aviation, the White House states that coordinated leadership from federal government, including action across the Departments of Energy, Transportation, Agriculture, Defense, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the General Services Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and the aviation sector will “result in the production and use of billions of gallons of sustainable fuel that will enable aviation emissions to drop 20% by 2030 when compared to business as usual”.
Key actions being taken include the launch of a new ‘Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge’ to inspire the dramatic increase in the production of SAF to at least 3 billion gallons per year by 2030 and new support for SAF projects and fuel producers totalling up to $4.3 billion alongside ongoing funding opportunities.
Velocys’ Bayou Fuels project, located in Natchez, Mississippi, is cited as a project that will “help us achieve our 2030 goals”. The factsheet notes: “Velocys plans to produce 300 million gallons of blended SAF per year from waste woody biomass and MSW [municipal solid waste] processed by Fischer-Tropsch processing”.
With the US SAF industry poised to grow rapidly, the briefing also points to federal plans to release an aviation climate action plan in the near future, which will set forth a comprehensive plan for the sector.
Velocys welcomes the Biden administration’s commitment to using federal powers to accelerate the United States’ deployment of SAF. This highlights the need for technology solutions such as ours to achieve aviation decarbonisation and climate change mitigation.
The full White House briefing can be read here.
Velocys’ Dr Neville Hargreaves has given an update on the Altalto project during an interview with Andy Comfort on a BBC Radio Humberside news programme, following the award of £2.4m from the Department for Transport’s ‘Green Fuels, Green Skies’ competition.
Dr Hargreaves outlined Velocys’ waste-to-fuels process, telling Comfort, “We can actually get to net zero fuel, or even below net zero, so it’s a crucial part of decarbonising aviation, which is one of the hardest things to do. And at the same time, making good use of our waste instead of burning it.”
It was made clear that the award of £2.4m is a significant step forward as “it helps us with work we need to do to advance the project, but it also demonstrates the Government is committed to our project and to the industry.” It will build on recent momentum on Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) within Government, including consultations on Jet Zero and a SAF mandate.
He went on to praise project partner British Airways, saying: “Having a high profile partner like them attracting investors and suppliers, they’ve been really excellent all along the way.”
Dr Hargreaves concluded that the location of the facility, on the banks of the Humber in North East Lincolnshire, will bring together the skills and logistics needed to build the UK’s first waste-to-fuels plant and contribute to the area’s fast growing Energy Estuary.
BBC Radio Humberside interview:
Velocys plc (VLS.L), the sustainable fuels technology company, is pleased to announce that it has secured a grant from the UK Department for Transport (DfT) under the Green Fuels, Green Skies competition. The grant award is up to a maximum of £2.4M, of which £1.2M is subject to progress by the DfT in developing policy support for Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF).
The Altalto project is a collaboration between Velocys and British Airways; the proposed plant will convert hundreds of thousands of tonnes per year of residual waste into sustainable fuels, mainly aviation fuel. Planning consent was granted in 2020; the project is ready to proceed to the final stages of engineering prior to construction, subject to the policy progress mentioned above and to third party project funding.
Velocys has previously received grants totalling £934,000 from the Future Fuels for Flight and Freight (F4C) competition, the predecessor to Green Fuels, Green Skies.
Henrik Wareborn, Velocys CEO, said:
“We are very pleased to have this enhanced level of support from the Department for Transport for the Altalto project. The momentum for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) in the UK and around the world is growing, demonstrated here by the recent consultations on the path to net zero aviation and on a SAF mandate. This grant demonstrates that the Altalto project is a key part of the strategy to accelerate a SAF industry in the UK.”
Sean Doyle, British Airways Chairman and CEO, said:
“We’re delighted that this project has received support from the Government’s Green Fuels, Green Skies competition, which is critical in helping us to drive forward the development of sustainable aviation fuel in the UK. Plants like this one would be a game-changer for our industry, not only delivering sustainable aviation fuel, but also creating hundreds of highly skilled jobs while increasing economic growth around the UK.
“Our parent company, IAG, was the first European airline group to commit to powering 10 per cent of its flights with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) by 2030 – purchasing one million tonnes of SAF each year, equivalent to taking a million cars off Europe’s roads every year. Projects like this one are part of our journey to that SAF target and we look forward to pushing it forward.”
Certain information contained in this announcement would have constituted inside information (as defined by Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014) prior to its release as part of this announcement.
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For further information, please contact:
Velocys
Henrik Wareborn, CEO
Andrew Morris, CFO
Lak Siriwardene, Director of Communications & Sustainability
+44 1865 800821
Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited (Nomad and Joint Broker)
Hugh Rich (Corporate Broking)
Emma Earl (Corporate Finance)
John Prior (Corporate Finance)
+44 20 7886 2500
Shore Capital Stockbrokers Limited (Joint Broker)
Henry Willcocks (Corporate Broking)
Toby Gibbs (Corporate Advisory)
+44 20 7408 4090
Radnor Capital (Investor Relations)
Joshua Cryer
Iain Daly
+44 20 3897 1830
Field Consulting (General PR)
Rob Jeffery
+44 20 3697 7953
Notes to Editors
Velocys is an international UK-based sustainable fuels technology company. Velocys designed, developed and now licenses proprietary Fischer-Tropsch technology for the generation of clean, low carbon, synthetic drop-in aviation and road transport fuel from residual woody biomass and municipal solid waste. The Velocys technology can also enable the production of zero carbon fuels for the airline industry from renewable power and CO2.
Velocys is at present developing two reference projects: the Bayou Fuels project in Natchez, Mississippi, USA (incorporating Carbon Capture and Storage) and the Altalto project in Immingham, UK, to produce fuels that significantly reduce both greenhouse gas emissions and key exhaust pollutants for aviation and road transport. Originally a spin-out from Oxford University, in 2008 the Company acquired a US company based on complementary reactor technology developed at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Velocys is headquartered in Oxford in the United Kingdom.