SAF Startup Aims High Via Methanol-To-Jet Fuel Demo Plant, SWISS Deal

Demonstrating An Efficient Pathway

The “e” prefix is based on a SAF manufacturing process that uses renewable energy. Firms producing or aiming to produce e-SAFs usually do so by deploying the Fischer-Tropsch process. It is a sequence of chemical reactions that converts a mix of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, or synthetic gas, into liquid hydrocarbons.

However, Metafuels opted for an alternative synthetic fuel pathway known as methanol synthesis when it embarked on its journey in 2021. The company collaborated with PSI, Switzerland’s largest research hub for natural and engineering sciences, and now the home of its demo plant.

The chosen pathway involves either producing methanol from carbon monoxide and hydrogen at high pressure using zinc oxide and copper as catalysts, or utilizing an existing sustainable methanol feedstock, and subsequently synthesizing a longer-chain hydrocarbon like jet fuel from methanol.

The process deploys additional steps and the use of a catalyst to produce the desired chemical reactions for Metafuels, CEO Saurabh Kapoor said in an interview.

“Four years ago we set out to convince the world that we have a lead on competitors on converting methanol to SAF selectively and efficiently, using our process. Our demo plant with a capacity of 50 liters [or just over 13 gallons] a day will serve as a vehicle to prove this to the world.

“Furthermore, we believe that if you put a Fischer-Tropsch project and our project on the same location, all other conditions being equal, the anticipated cost of production of our e-SAF will likely be around 50% lower and the yield around 80% higher. Few can deny these are huge numbers in terms of cost savings and efficiency gains.”

Road To Commercialization

The world’s first methanol-to-jet SAF technology demo plant now assumes the mantle of real-world testing for Metafuels on the road to commercialization.

The first commercial staging post for the company would be its Turbe e-SAF plant in the Port of Rotterdam, The Netherlands, a major global energy and petrochemicals hub.

To support project development activities through to final investment decision [“or FID”], including front-end engineering and design [or “FEED”], planning and legal due diligence and commercial development, Metafuels raised $24 million in a Series A funding round in February.

The round was led by UVC Partners, in conjunction with Energy Impact Partners, Contrarian Ventures, RockCreek, Verve Ventures and Fortescue Ventures. In April, it also secured a €1.92 million ($2.25 million) grant from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency to advance the Rotterdam site.

“Securing this funding and the Dutch grant represent a validation of our approach and technology for scaling e-SAF production, and the merits of the Turbe project,” Kapoor said.

“The demo plant will help de-risk our commercial-scale units, generating the data and operational experience for Turbe. We are targeting production from 2030 taking it to market via the Port of Rotterdam, an ideal location to deliver large-scale synthetic fuel projects.”

The FEED contract for the facility was awarded to global engineering, procurement and construction firm McDermott in December. Metafuels is also in early discussions for a plant in Denmark.

An enticing, albeit challenging market awaits. According to projections offered by the International Energy Agency and the International Air Transport Association, the potential market size of e-SAFs could well be in the range of 80-120 billion gallons by 2050.

Kapoor reckons it could be even bigger contingent upon market conditions and local factors impacting various aviation hubs.

“Only thing we can promise is that our Aerobrew can replace conventional jet fuel regardless of the size, type of aircraft, and short-haul or long-haul. Our ambition is to do single e-SAF production trains of up to 2,000 tons (around 670,000 gallons) a day, making our offering highly scalable.”

A SAF Opportunity SWISS Can’t Miss

Kapoor added that while his company remains in talks various airlines, an early collaboration with SWISS is both a milestone and an affirmation of the role that e-SAFs will play in the future of aviation.

The partnership presented Switzerland’s flag carrier and one of European aviation’s most recognizable brands an opportunity that it did not wish to miss, said SWISS CEO Jens Fehlinger.

“As an airline, we are doing everything within our power to actively drive the transformation and decarbonization of aviation forward. Our collaboration with Metafuels is line with that objective.”

“Ultimately, it is clear not just to us as an airline but the wider industry that achieving decarbonization goals will now require industrial-scale production. Sustainable fuels must become available much faster, at affordable prices and in significantly larger quantities in the future.”

Metafuels’ technology raises the prospect of finding solutions for decarbonization “within the existing system and infrastructure” and that too with a home-grown company, Fehlinger added.

The SWISS CEO, a former Airbus pilot himself, also noted that alongside SAF research and potential supply chain partnerships of the nature it has with Metafuels, his airline continues to take extensive action to minimize the carbon emissions from its flight operations.

This includes investing in advanced and fuel-efficient aircraft. SWISS currently has ten Airbus A350-900 aircraft on order with deliveries running through to 2031. “With newer aircraft in play, the use of sustainable aviation fuel becomes an important lever for reducing carbon emissions further.”

That matters given its major bases – Zurich and Geneva – are both global connector hubs as well as airports serving two major centers of business and finance. In 2025, Zurich and Geneva airports handled nearly 33 million and 18 million passengers respectively.

“Upscaling the SAF production is about the longer-term in an industry that has to remain agile week-to-week given the interesting and challenging times we live in. Of late, there have been several challenges thrown at us in relatively short period of time.

“As an industry we have yet to totally digest the Covid pandemic and its domino effect on supply chains. Geopolitics has also kept us busy from Russian airspace closures [for Western carriers] after the Ukraine war to the Middle East and its effect of the aviation fuel market.”

However, Fehlinger noted that these developments should not mean that the industry turns its back on sustainability, but rather finds pathways of the sort SWISS is attempting with Metafuels.

He observed that in times like the present when the energy trilemma – of manging affordability, security and sustainability – looms large, “scalability and efficiency” of SAF production could go a long way in furthering decarbonization in the aviation sector.

Providing that very pathway for lower-emission air travel is the big commercial play and selling point for Metafuels, insisted CEO Kapoor.

“Our idea is to deliver up to 90% lower lifecycle emissions than fossil kerosene at a competitive production cost. I am confident the few gallons from our demo plant of today will be the basis of bigger industrial volumes that follow in the very near future.”

The aviation and SAF industry will likely keep an eye on what may follow at Metafuels pretty keenly. Afterall, IATA is targeting a net-zero carbon emissions horizon by 2050 with SAFs expected to contribute 65% of the total reduction. Methanol-to-jet SAF technology might be the answer.