Moving to a Bigger Home
When Alfanar evaluated its Lighthouse Green Fuels project it discovered the former INEOS Nitriles site in Seal Sands offered everything the initial plot lacked. The new location is only five hundred metres away but brings deeper quays, rail sidings and ample space. From feedstock pre-treatment to final fuel storage every stage will now sit within one integrated boundary. That design choice minimises truck movements and accelerates construction schedules.
Production Highlights
Phase one will process one point five million tonnes of forestry, sawmill and agricultural residues every year. The result will be more than one hundred eighty million litres of certified second generation Sustainable Aviation Fuel. When blended into airline tanks the supply offsets the carbon footprint of about four thousand five hundred transatlantic trips between London and New York. Because the plant sits close to a developing carbon capture pipeline, operators expect a two hundred percent lifecycle emissions reduction compared with conventional kerosene once sequestration begins.
Non-Obvious Insight
Locating the pretreatment units alongside the reactor provides a useful thermal advantage. Waste heat from the gasification stage can dry incoming biomass, lowering total energy demand and shielding the business model from volatile gas prices. This simple piece of engineering integration often hides in technical drawings yet delivers meaningful cost savings over decades.
Community Impact
Local leaders forecast thousands of high quality jobs in construction, operations and maintenance. Crucially, the initiative will anchor a new regional supply chain for biomass logistics, equipment fabrication and carbon management, further diversifying the Tees Valley economy.
Conclusion
By combining abundant feedstock, excellent logistics and smart process integration, Lighthouse Green Fuels is setting a new global benchmark for Sustainable Aviation Fuel deployment. Teesside is poised to become a marquee reference point for decarbonised flight.