Farnborough Airport, home of the first powered flight in the UK, has secured an agreement with Hydrogen Refinery for the annual supply of 12.5 million litres, or 10,000 tonnes, of carbon-negative sustainable aviation fuel produced from landfill material and mixed waste.

Farnborough, which has already sold more than two million litres of 38% blend SAF since 2021, says the deal will support its ambition to offer a 20% blend airport-wide by 2028. The UK government’s current mandate target is just 10% by 2030. The fuel will be created locally at the nearby Hydrogen Refinery in a process that is claimed to emit no incineration-related emissions.

Simon Geere, CEO of Farnborough Airport, says: “We are delighted to be forging this ground-breaking alliance with e-fuels developer Hydrogen Refinery. Its patented technology has the potential to provide Farnborough Airport with enough proprietary supplies of SAF for us to become the first and only airport in the world to be offering fuel with a 20% blend across its entire supply by 2028, well ahead of the UK government's own target of 10% by 2030. What's more, this is entirely consistent with our ambitions to be an incubator for the advancement of sustainable technologies, as well as being a vital commercial enabler for kick-starting the domestic refining of SAF at scale and right here within the UK.”

He adds: “The transition to new fuelling technologies like this requires markets like ours that are able to sustain the higher upfront investment costs necessary to make things happen. Farnborough Airport is in a unique position to advance this technology given the smaller-modern aircraft that we handle and the significant economic value of the flights we support. As a local company, Hydrogen Refinery exemplifies the deep-rooted technological capabilities of the companies that form part of Farnborough Airport's aeronautical research heritage and this is a fantastic example of a partnership that will generate significant local inward investment and will reinforce our ambitions to become a global sustainability showcase for airports around the world.”

Farnborough was awarded Level 4+ carbon accreditation in 2024 and now generates a quarter of its power on site via solar. It previously made SAF available to all customers and temporarily matched its price to Jet A1 during the 2022 Farnborough Airshow.

Hydrogen Refinery CEO Stephen Voller says: “We live in a throwaway society and waste such as mixed plastics and municipal solid waste (MSW) continues to rise despite efforts towards recycling. Hydrogen Refinery has a unique process called the plasma electrolyser system (PES) that can process mixed waste, including airline passenger food waste, into SAF. This is not only a low-cost process but is also carbon negative because the waste is processed without the emissions from incineration or landfill. We are excited to be working with Farnborough Airport to make its vision of sustainability a reality.”