Nova Pangaea Technologies has completed extended endurance trials on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) produced from waste biomass at its Teesside demonstration plant, achieving continuous stable operation for up to 72 hours with yields exceeding target specifications.
The trial programme targeted a critical gap in SAF production supply chains: scalable feedstock alternatives to used cooking oil. Nova Pangaea's process converts waste biomass — sawdust, wheat straw and similar residues — into aviation fuel precursors through chemical processing.
The demonstration operates under Project Speedbird, a UK government-backed initiative partnering Nova Pangaea, British Airways and LanzaJet to produce carbon-negative aviation fuel from domestic waste biomass.
The project addresses two concurrent pressures on the aviation sector: sustainable fuel availability and feedstock cost escalation as used cooking oil competition intensifies across biofuels markets.
Nova Pangaea remains pre-commercial scale, with no current SAF production volumes at market quantities. However, the company's technical credibility lies in demonstrating process viability for waste biomass feedstocks and achieving consistent yields over extended operational cycles — both prerequisites for investment scaling.
CEO Stewart Stewart noted that the trial's success should strengthen investor confidence and position waste biomass as a plausible SAF feedstock pathway.
He emphasised the domestic supply advantage — UK waste biomass availability represents a renewable resource base currently underutilised in aviation decarbonisation.
The significance of the trial extends beyond fuel volumes. If Nova Pangaea can demonstrate consistent conversion economics from low-cost waste biomass to aviation-grade SAF, the pathway could materially alter SAF supply economics. Currently, SAF production costs remain elevated primarily due to feedstock costs — predominantly used cooking oil prices reflecting global biofuel demand competition.
Partnerships with British Airways and LanzaJet provide Nova Pangaea with industry credibility and offtake visibility that early-stage SAF developers typically lack.
LanzaJet's established ethanol-to-SAF technology, combined with Nova Pangaea's biomass conversion capability, represents a potential integrated value chain from waste material to certified aviation fuel.
The trial result positions waste biomass as a credible SAF feedstock for future scaling — contingent on demonstrating consistent yields, process reliability and cost economics at volumes relevant to commercial aviation demand.
Nova Pangaea Technologies completes waste biomass SAF trial
