Proposals include plants aiming to produce SAF from carbon dioxide captured from the atmosphere, which is then blended with hydrogen from water. Others will concentrate on alcohol derived from wastes, including flue gases from industry and from everyday household and commercial black bag rubbish.

The government’s ambition is for up to 10% SAF usage by 2030 and up to 75% SAF by 2050, “generating potential savings of up to 23 megatons of CO2 per year in 2050, equivalent to half a million return flights to Tenerife,” the Department for Transport said.  

Locations in the running for funding include those in Tees Valley, Ellesmere Port and Lincolnshire “with the potential to create over 1,000 green jobs across the UK” and offering emissions savings of more than 70% compared to the use of conventional fossil jet fuel. 

Transport secretary Grant Shapps said: “Aviation will be central to our future growth and plans to build back greener from the pandemic, which is why we have invested over £20 million in the past year to decarbonise the sector in line with our world-leading net-zero targets.”  

The DfT estimates SAF production in the UK could generate between £700 million and £1.66 billion annually and create 11,000 jobs by 2040.

The government plans to showcase the outcomes of these consultations and the work of the Jet Zero Council at the COP26 environment conference in Glasgow, which begins in 100 days.

Jet Zero commits the aviation sector to a net zero emissions target by 2050, and a domestic target of net zero emissions by 2040.