Manufacturer Monthly’s Jack Lloyd sat down with Jet Zero CFO, Mac Irvine, to discuss the company’s sustainable aviation fuel projects, which utilise renewable feedstocks to produce low carbon liquid fuels.
Founded four years ago by CEO Ed Mason, Jet Zero Australia is dedicated to the development and operation of large-scale sustainable aviation fuel [SAF] projects. These projects aim to decarbonise aviation, improve sovereign fuel security and bring a new and diverse industry to regional Australia.
The idea for Jet Zero began with Mason’s previous work in equity capital markets in the mining, resources, oil and gas sectors. In this previous employment, he witnessed numerous clients – in what are traditionally non-renewable sectors – begin to ask about decarbonising their operations.
This motivated Mason to think about solutions to a hard-to-abate industry, which ended up being aviation fuel production. Beginning as a part-time operation, in the past three years the company has become a full-time business, growing from strength to strength.
Jet Zero CFO Mac Irvine joined the company from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation [CEFC], the Australian green bank, in early 2024. It was a high-profile appointment which spoke to the success and ambition of the company as a commercially-minded developer of SAF projects.
“We are looking to decarbonise the aviation sector, but at the same time, support the agricultural sector and the regional communities where these projects are most likely to be developed and built,” said Irvine. “Jet Zero started four years ago and has developed into what I personally believe is the market-leading private sector developer in the SAF space.
“We are technology agnostic and deliver our projects with a commercial mindset. This means we can procure any technology from the marketplace, but importantly we focus on proven and scaled technologies.
“This approach has led us to pursue the Alcohol to Jet (ATJ) and Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA) pathways.”
A sustainable pipeline of projects
Currently, Jet Zero has two major projects that have been announced. The flagship project, which is currently in Front-End Engineering Design [FEED], is Project Ulysses. Irvine said that this project uses ATJ technology supplied by LanzaJet to convert ethanol into low carbon jet fuel and renewable diesel.
“Around 90 per cent of what is produced from Project Ulysses is SAF, and 10 per cent is renewable diesel. That’s just how the technology works in practice,” said Irvine. “It’s about decarbonising the aviation sector and looking to keep the fuel onshore.”
For Ulysses, Jet Zero has secured a site at the Cleveland Bay Industrial Park in Townsville, North Queensland. The project is set to produce approximately 102 million litres of SAF and 11 million litres of renewable diesel per annum.
“The project will have 1,000 jobs at peak construction and for longer-term operations, about 100 direct operational jobs as well,” said Irvine.
Irvine said that the project’s progress wouldn’t be possible without $50 million of funding – from both private and public sector – that Jet Zero has raised to date. Of this $50 million, he said that around $35 million comes from within the private sector.
“The private investment comes from our three strategic partners – Airbus, Qantas, and Idemitsu Kosan of Japan – as well as five other institutional funds,” he said.
Aside from private sector investment, the Queensland State and Commonwealth Government have jointly committed almost $15 million. Irvine said this is the biggest amount ever awarded by the Government to advance a single SAF project.
“Project Ulysses’ FEED phase saw $9 million in funding from the Commonwealth Government via the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and $5 million from the Queensland
Government,” he said. “There was also about $760,000 from the Queensland Government for its feasibility phase.”
With the first SAF estimated to be produced in 2028, Irvine said that the company is looking to close the FEED phase of Ulysses by the end of the year and begin construction shortly after.
While Ulysses is the company’s primary focus, Jet Zero and global biofuels player Apeiron Bioenergy have partnered on Project Mandala. This project will focus on sourcing waste oils and non-edible feedstocks to manufacture SAF via the HEFA pathway. The Project is nearing completion of its feasibility phase.
“We received grant funding for Mandala from the Go-Green Co-Innovation Program, which is an initiative between Enterprise Singapore and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT),” said Irvine.
Maintaining capability to ensure future quality
Irvine insists that it’s Jet Zero’s capabilities across development, engineering, operations and financing that have led them to become Australia’s leading SAF project developer.
“Our team has a really strong, broad skill set that allows us to put all of the component parts of a project together efficiently and commercially,” he said.
On top of its current team of 12, Irvine said that Jet Zero also has external partners that are working for and supporting the company on its mission. This includes Technip Energies as design and engineering contractor and Long Energy and Resources as owner’s engineer.
An equally important aspect of capability within Jet Zero is how the company plans to ensure the quality control and assurance of its products. Both outputs of the company – SAF and renewable diesel – will be tested and certified to globally recognised standards.
“We refer to this as ‘farm to wing’ – in other words, from beginning to end,” said Irvine.
To ensure these standards and specifications are met, Jet Zero has an external third-party provider working with it on its life cycle assessment [LCA].
“These certification bodies want to make sure that the fuel is produced within a sustainable supply chain,” said Irvine. “We will support the sustainability of that supply chain as well as reduce carbon emissions across that life cycle to ensure that we have a sustainable and validated product.”
Overcoming past challenges to create success
Irvine said that challenges have presented themselves across each part of the process, as trying to develop a project in a new industry regardless of location is never going to be easy. He said that overcoming these challenges in the past, present and future isn’t a solo adventure, but instead a challenge taken on by industry.
“Our commercially driven nature has really enabled us to help us break through a lot of the barriers that other projects wouldn’t have.”
Taking this attitude into the future is key for Jet Zero, and key to the company’s near term goal of completing the FEED program on Project Ulysses and targeting Final Investment Decision [FID] by the end of this year. For Mandala, Irvine said that the near term goal is closing out the feasibility study within the next three months.
“Mandala is the second most progressed project in our portfolio and allows the business to diversify across technology and feedstocks,” said Irvine.
He also said the company has unannounced projects in the pipeline that will help Jet Zero achieve their eventual goal of having a portfolio of global projects.
“We are continuing to develop those projects through feasibility and the early scoping stage in the immediate term,” Irvine said. “Long term, the goal is to have a platform of projects that are operating and producing significant volumes of SAF globally.”