A startup out of Germany is making new waves in the clean aviation space — and investors are taking notice.
With €2.3 million ($2.5 million) in pre-seed funding and grants of around €300,000 ($324,000), Spark e-Fuels may soon bring sustainable air travel closer.
As Climate Insider reported, the Berlin-based company has developed proprietary e-fuel technology that optimizes how sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is produced.
According to the United States Department of Energy, SAF is a fuel typically created using "non-petroleum feedstocks," though researchers are also working on other forms of SAF, such as "poop-based" plane fuel. While SAF still produces planet-warming pollution when burned, and is currently used in blends with petroleum products, the DOE noted that compared to conventional jet fuel, it can reduce emissions by up to 94%.
However, it still requires a lot of energy to create, which is why more efficient processes that don't rely on dirty fuels are needed.
While renewable energy sources like wind and solar are cheaper and more accessible than ever, their intermittent availability makes it tough to produce SAF at scale — something Spark's system is designed to overcome. The company plans to test the tech in its first e-fuel pilot plant soon.
"For sustainable aviation fuel to become the industry standard, production must be both scalable and cost-competitive," Mathias Bösl, CEO and co-founder of Spark e-Fuels, told Climate Insider. "Our technology unlocks this potential by integrating renewable energy in a demand-responsive way."
This could be a huge win for both travelers and the planet. If SAF can be produced at scale reliably and affordably, it would help airlines to cut pollution, lower transportation costs, and improve air quality for surrounding communities.
"We were drawn to Spark's ability to integrate renewable energy into chemical production in a demand-responsive way," said Isabella Fandrych, General Partner at Nucleus Capital, one of the investors. "This approach is not only essential for SAF but has wider applications across the chemical industry, which must decarbonize rapidly."
There's growing momentum behind clean fuels as aviation works to reduce its climate footprint — it's a $50 billion market. SAF is expected to make up less than 0.7% of total jet fuel production in 2025, but companies like Spark could help ramp that up. Plus, Spark's technology will also aid the green energy transition in the overall chemical industry.
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Using cleaner fuel ⛽ More and more companies are moving toward innovative clean energy solutions, such as Walmart putting EV charging stations at hundreds of stores and European energy companies working to reduce carbon pollution.
"The airline industry's decarbonization must be seen as part of the global energy transition, not compartmentalized as a transport issue," said Marie Owens Thomsen of the IATA. "That's because solving the energy transition challenge for aviation will also benefit the wider economy, as renewable fuel refineries will produce a broad range of fuels used by other industries."
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