FlyORO wants to decarbonise aviation with its last-mile sustainable fuel blending tech

Globally, transportation accounts for about 24 per cent of the global CO2 emissions, which is expected to reach 27 per cent by 2050 as fossil fuel use continues. Aeroplane emissions are rising rapidly, which increased by 32 per cent between 2013 and 2018. 

While electric vehicles (EVs) are gradually replacing fossil fuel-powered vehicles in the land transportation sector, the aviation industry has not made much headway on this front. Solar-powered planes are also being tested — a long-haul solar-powered flight (Solar Impulse 2) was tested in 2016 — but it doesn’t appear to have made much progress either.

All this means chances of decarbonising aviation are remote. 

What can we do to reduce CO2 emissions in the aviation sector, then?

This Singaporean entrepreneur has an answer. 

“We wanted to find alternatives that could help reduce flight emissions,” says Jonathan Yeo, Co-Founder and CEO of FlyORO, a provider of last-mile sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) blending technologies. “And it has to start today.”

FlyORO was founded in Singapore by Yeo, Joe Ng (CTO), and Genevieve Toh (CMO)  — all avid travellers. 

Yeo is a chemical engineer with a track record in developing energy and chemical businesses. Ng has previously led high-profile global supply chain, engineering, plant construction, expansion and production, and industrial automation projects across oil majors. Toh has a business management background and experience in banking and finance at JP Morgan & HSBC.

Tackling a Barrier to Flying Green

According to the startup, it is tackling one of the barriers to flying green by providing last-mile sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) blending and distribution directly at airports. The bespoke modular biofuel blending technology can be integrated with existing airport infrastructure so that airports can provide SAF blends readily to airlines.

“SAF is the most viable alternative to conventional jet fuel, but our supply chain model has to be better integrated to support an efficient distribution of SAF. We are on a mission to enable the accessibility and availability of SAF to airports anywhere,” Yeo tells e27.

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SAF is a synergistic blend of conventional jet fuel and biofuel. Biofuel, derived from biomass-based feedstock like animal waste and algae, is a lower-carbon aviation fuel alternative. 

“We partner with airports by deploying our modular assets for easy tie-in with existing fuel storage tanks. We convert existing airports into SAF-friendly at zero CAPEX. We also partner with fuel service operators to provide airlines with a seamless operational process of into-plane services,” Yeo boasts. 

Flights are allowed to fly with up to a maximum of 50 per cent blend, reducing lifecycle carbon emissions by up to 80 per cent in neat form. “The SAF industry builds upon a holistic ecosystem, meaning a rigorous relationship between all stakeholders is necessary. FlyORO liaises directly with fixed base operators (FBOs), which are involved in the final distribution of the blended SAF,” Yeo shares.

(FBO is an organisation granted the right by an airport to operate at the airport and provide aeronautical services, such as fueling, hangaring, tie-down and parking, aircraft rental, aircraft maintenance, and flight instruction)

FlyORO has raised SGD500,000 (US$354,000) from unnamed angels for its innovative solution.

Getting an Entry into Aviation

Aviation is a highly capital-intensive and regulated industry. The founders of FlyORO realised early on that entering this sector was hard. So they kickstarted their projects with companies in the oil sector.

“Oil companies have ambitions towards cleaner fuels in the energy transition. Based on this, we started working with them to understand more about the massive carbon polluters, including aviation fuel emissions,” Yeo reveals. 

This experience helped FlyORO understand the aviation sector and its requirements better and get an entry into the sector.

Yeo acknowledges that biofuels and other lower-carbon alternative fuels are already available for the aviation industry. SAF is blended in different types and ratios due to varying airline commitment, processing technology and market legislations. Adding to this complexity, SAF is currently processed at refineries of fixed geographies depending on the origin, requiring additional logistics cost, time and carbon footprint. This makes it costly, less accessible, and available only to a few airports.

“So, blending products with existing ATF is a more commercially acceptable solution. Then again, supply chain and distribution are a challenge. We fulfil the role as a last-mile blending provider for SAF and are in a unique position to accelerate the offtake of SAF blends to airlines,” he shares.

A key metric in airline operations is a fast turnaround and refuel time. The company claims it enables this with rapid order-to-fulfilment, with on-demand blending, certification and distribution within a 20 minutes window without disrupting the existing into-plane services for airlines.

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As FlyORO grew, its aviation fuel partners connected it with more airports and airlines. FlyORO has so far received interest from 11 airlines and 16 airports and is currently working on three active projects in Singapore, the US and Europe.

It also has partnerships with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Joint Inspection Group (JIG), and Defence Standard (DefStan).“We are working with these groups to align our solution with current regulations and participate in active discussion for future changes in supply chain operation standards,” Yeo says.

FlyORO charges a blending fee of US$0.03-0.10 per litre.

According to Yeo, the market opportunities for FlyORO are enormous. The jet fuel blending segment itself is US$250 million, and it has barely scratched the surface.

But the startup has to tackle some challenges to scale up and grow. “Since we are an innovator, there is bound to be some resistance to change, which means a longer lead time to conversion. It took months for us to sell our story and could reach the right stakeholder only after four months of the discovery process.”

How long would it take for FlyORO to sell its stories to more flight operators and fly high? Its ability to create awareness and convince more stakeholders is the answer.

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