3 min read - 17 Jun, 2026
£219m to boost UK sustainable aviation fuel production
A new £219m Low Carbon Fuels Fund (LCFF) has been launched, aimed at boosting the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in the UK.
Spanning four years from 2026/27 to 2029/30, the fund aims to position the UK as a global hub for SAF production, with the potential to support 15,000 jobs in the sector and contribute £5bn to the economy by 2050.
Of the fund, £93m will be available in the first two years. UK companies looking to develop and scale up low-carbon fuel production are invited to bid for a share when applications open in mid-July 2026. The fund will focus its support on the most promising projects, meaning those closest to the actual production stage.
SAF is an alternative to fossil jet fuel, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions on average by 70% on a lifecycle basis, making it a key technology that will allow UK aviation to grow capacity while meeting its net zero commitments.
It is hoped that growing a thriving domestic SAF industry will give investors the confidence they need to back new production plants in the UK, creating well-paid, skilled jobs across the country.
A new £219m funding programme has been launched, designed to accelerate domestic production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
The new fund succeeds the Advanced Fuels Fund, through which the government has invested £198m since 2022 to support UK SAF development.
Keith Packer, managing director of British Sugar, said: “Following a grant from the Advanced Fuels Fund, the British BioJet project at our Wissington site is exploring the development of a sizeable demonstration plant. It will utilise our existing waste feedstocks with ethanol-to-jet technology to produce 1,500 tonnes of SAF – supporting the growth in cleaner, greener jobs and investment. We welcome this next phase of funding to develop SAF, and look forward to making an application so that we can continue supporting the government’s ambition for net zero aviation.”
Alongside the new fund, the government is launching a Call for Evidence on the SAF Mandate, which requires an increasing proportion of jet fuel supplied in the UK to be sustainable, starting at 2% in 2025, rising to 10% by 2030, and 22% by 2040. The UK is already seeing encouraging growth in SAF supply.
The Call for Evidence will explore what current global supply projections for different types of sustainable fuel mean for meeting the SAF Mandate’s targets in the coming years.
This is part of an ongoing and collaborative approach with industry to ensure the scheme remains responsive to an evolving market. Overall, Mandate targets are not under consideration for reduction, with proposals focusing on strengthening the scheme for the future.
On the investment, Jennifer Holmgren, chief executive of LanzaTech, added: “It will help companies like LanzaTech turn waste into green jet fuel, creating skilled jobs and economic growth, for example, in Humberside, where we are developing a new SAF facility capable of supplying around 1% of the UK’s jet fuel demand. The call for evidence on future SAF targets is also an important step towards giving industry the long-term certainty needed to scale production and accelerate private investment today and beyond 2030.”
