Industry Forum on Sustainable Aviation Fuel
Monday 13 April, The Diamond, University of Sheffield
The aim of the Supergen Bioenergy Hub Industry Forum is to connect with stakeholders outside academia and to use UK research knowledge and capability to support sustainable bioenergy deployment.
It’s an opportunity to share technical information on challenges and opportunities in UK biomass and bioenergy with other commercial and academic actors in the sector.
The first Industry Forum meeting of 2026 will focus on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). In this one-day event, we will examine all aspects of the SAF value chain, from feedstock supply to fuel production, end usage, technology challenges and sustainability questions.
Findings from the day will be collated into a briefing paper outlining current challenges, potential solutions, areas for future research and collaboration opportunities.
If you are interested in attending, please fill out this short form.
Agenda
10am: Registration and refreshments
10.15am: Welcome and introduction, Mirjam Röder, Director of Supergen Bioenergy Hub
10.30am: Session 1: Feedstock production and availability
- Claudia Millar-Castillo, Worley Consulting: Feedstock availability for SAF
- Eleanor Borrill, University of Sheffield: Waste, supply chains and LCA
- Challenges and opportunities: Open discussion
- Review and synthesis
11.30am: Coffee break
11.45am: Session 2: Fuel production
- Sanjeev Gajjela, PySAF: Technology pathways, market status, commercialisation outlook and PySAF’s role
- Karen Finney, University of Sheffield: NEXTGEN-SAF project
- Challenges and opportunities: Open discussion
- Review and synthesis
12.45pm: Lunch, networking and virtual tour of the Energy Innovation Centre
1.45pm: Session 3: End usage
- Spiridon Siouris, University of Sheffield: SAF and aircraft fuel system performance requirements
- Ruoyang Yuan, University of Sheffield: Combustion and emissions
- Challenges and opportunities: Open discussion
- Review and synthesis
2.45pm: Conclusions and next steps
3.00pm: Close
Format
The aim of the forum is to support knowledge exchange and identify solutions to the challenges presented. There will be presentations in each session to provide information and to tee up discussion points. We will hold discussions in an open format, inviting contributions from the floor. Please come prepared to share your knowledge and expertise and to hear from others. There will be opportunities to offer written contributions if you prefer to do so. The chair will pull the discussion points together at the end of each session and try to identify next steps.
