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# TAKE-OFF project: From CO2 and hydrogen to sustainable aviation fuels

Thema:
  Biobased fuels and chemicals

28 January 2026

With aviation emissions accounting for almost 14% of the EU transport emissions in 2021, the industry faces growing pressure to reduce its environmental impact. So far, sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) remain the only viable option to make long-haul flights more sustainable in the coming decades. To accelerate this process, TNO led a groundbreaking European collaboration called TAKE-OFF, bringing together ten partners to develop technology for converting CO2 and renewable hydrogen into sustainable aviation fuel.

## The challenge: making aviation sustainable

While alternative propulsion methods like electric or hydrogen-powered flight are being developed, these are not expected to be viable options for long-haul flights. "Aviation fuel consumption is approximately 400 billion liters and growing 2% to 3% yearly", explains Lawien Zubeir, senior scientist and technical lead of synthetic fuels and chemicals at TNO. "When you consider these volumes, optimizing these processes, even by small margins, can create significant benefits."

Current alternatives to fossil jet fuel each face limitations. Biofuels depend on finite resources like cooking oils and animal fats. Meanwhile, established synthetic fuel processes like Fischer-Tropsch produce a wide range of products that require extensive processing to isolate jet fuel. These challenges highlight the need for more targeted, efficient approaches.

## The breakthrough: precision targeting for efficiency

The TAKE-OFF project took a fundamentally different approach by designing a process specifically for jet fuel production. By using captured CO2 and renewable hydrogen as raw materials, the technology sidesteps the limitations of biological feedstocks. This is an important advantage as synthetic SAF is expected to grow to 35% of all sustainable aviation fuels by 2050.

"Unlike conventional methods such as Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, our process is specifically engineered to yield hydrocarbon chains in the jet fuel range", Lawien explains. "In contrast to conventional methods that generate a wide array of hydrocarbons, requiring substantial downstream processing, the TAKE-OFF project's strategy is uniquely tailored to streamline production." This precision targeting sets the stage for big efficiency improvements.

## The innovation: two complementary routes

The TAKE-OFF team developed two distinct pathways to sustainable jet fuel, each with unique advantages:

- The direct route represents the more ambitious approach, converting CO2 and H2 straight into light olefins (ethylene and propylene) in a single step. These are the building blocks for jet fuel. "It's more challenging but potentially more efficient as it skips the methanol step entirely", Lawien notes.
- The indirect route takes a staged approach: first converting CO2 and H2 to methanol, then to dimethyl ether, before final conversion to light olefins. "While requiring more process steps, this route currently achieves higher selectivity towards the desired products", says Lawien.

Both routes lead to a significant efficiency gain. "Despite being at an early stage of development, our carbon and energy efficiency are already comparable to well-established technologies like Fischer-Tropsch", Lawien emphasizes. "This is one of our biggest achievements, because Fischer-Tropsch has been optimized for over many years."

The TAKE-OFF project explored two distinct thermocatalytic pathways for converting CO2 and renewable hydrogen into sustainable aviation fuel, each with its own advantages and technical challenges.

### Direct Route

The direct route aims to convert CO2 and H2 straight into light olefins (C2-C4) using a bifunctional catalyst that combines methanol synthesis and methanol-to-olefins functions in a single step. This approach potentially offers greater efficiency by eliminating intermediate steps, but currently faces challenges with selectivity and byproduct formation, particularly CO and various hydrocarbons outside the desired range.

The goal is to specifically target the jet fuel carbon chain range (C8-C16) without the need for downstream upgrading, unlike traditional Fischer-Tropsch processes that produce a broader range from C2 up to C40 or C50.

### Indirect Route

The indirect route first converts CO2 and H2 to methanol (CH3OH), then to dimethyl ether (CH3OCH3), before final conversion to light olefins. While requiring more process steps, this route achieves higher selectivity towards desired products. TNO's SIENNA reactor technology enhances this route in-situ removing water vapor during the reaction, pushing CO2 conversion beyond limitations dictated by thermodynamics (e.g. from 20% to 37% per pass).

## 40% yield increase because of the SIENNA reactor

At the heart of the indirect route's success lies TNO's SIENNA reactor. Traditional methanol synthesis hits a wall at 20% conversion due to thermodynamic equilibrium limitations. The SIENNA reactor breaks through this barrier.

The innovation is elegantly simple in concept: continuously remove water as it forms during the reaction. Unlike reactors using sorption materials or sweep gas, SIENNA uses a selective membrane to extract steam directly from the catalyst bed, condensing it on a cooling element at the reactor's center - all within a single, continuous process.

"With conventional technology, you'd convert only 20% of the CO2, with 80% needing to be recycled", Lawien explains. "With SIENNA, we achieve 37% conversion. That 40% improvement in methanol yield changes everything. It means smaller facilities, less energy use, better economics."

## From lab to runway: proving the concept

After four years of intensive research, the TAKE-OFF team produced their proof of concept: one liter of actual jet fuel made from CO2 and hydrogen. While a single liter might seem modest, it represents a major milestone.

"The fuel meets physical property requirements for certification", says Georgiana Stan, TNO's project coordinator for TAKE-OFF. Lawien adds: "The sample underwent rigorous testing. Its physical, chemical and combustion properties were examined to verify it meets the requirements for commercial aviation use."

While this validation program represents a major milestone toward certification, it's not the only notable achievement. "Beyond the technical success, what excites us is the environmental performance. Our fuel produces four times less soot than conventional jet fuel", says Georgiana.

The environmental advantages extend beyond reduced soot. With negligible aromatic hydrocarbons and no sulfur compounds, TAKE-OFF fuel promises lower NOx, SOx and particulate emissions. These improvements matter not just for air quality but for climate impact. Because soot particles create contrails, which research suggests may have an even bigger warming effect than CO2 emissions.

"We've advanced the technology from proof of concept at TRL 3 to validation in relevant environments at TRL 5", Georgiana notes. "That's a huge leap in just four years."

## The power of the right partnerships

Success in a project of this complexity requires more than good science, it demands orchestration. "By bringing together partners from the entire value chain, we ensured the right expertise for each challenge", Georgiana explains.

The collaboration reads like a carefully choreographed operation: CNRS developed the catalysts, pushing beyond what literature said was possible. RWE's CO2 capture plant provided the feedstock while Mitsubishi Power's synthesis facility and Asahi Kasei's electrolyzer handled conversion.

SkyNRG brought aviation expertise to analyze fuel quality, while RWTH Aachen University and FEV evaluated emissions. TNO contributed the SIENNA reactor while coordinating the entire effort. SDU assessed the economics and environmental impact, and CVE (CO2 Value Europe) ensured the results reached the right audiences.

When the consortium presented their results in Brussels in December 2024, the response validated their approach. "The response was very positive", Georgiana recalls. "We had representatives from the European Commission, certification experts, and major industry players in attendance. The level of interest reflects how crucial sustainable aviation fuels have become, especially with new EU directives driving change."

The TAKE-OFF project delivered several breakthrough results that demonstrate both the technical feasibility and environmental benefits of its innovative approach to SAF production:

- Production of 1L SAF sample meeting physical properties required for certification, making it a suitable candidate for the "alcohol-to-jet" certification pathway
- Demonstration of 4x lower soot production compared to conventional jet fuel, reducing both health impacts and climate effects from contrails
- Achievement of 40% increase in methanol yield using TNO's SIENNA reactor technology, surpassing theoretical equilibrium limitations
- Development of stable, selective catalysts for both direct CO2-to-olefins conversion and oligomerization
- Carbon and energy efficiency comparable to well-established Fischer-Tropsch process, despite being at an early development stage (TRL 3-5)
- Successful integration of complete value chain from CO2 capture to final fuel production under industrially relevant conditions.

## Impact beyond aviation

While these results mark significant progress toward sustainable aviation, the project's innovations and insights reach far beyond the skies. "The knowledge gained also has potential benefits for other technologies in the chemical sector", Georgiana explains.

“While the path to industrial-scale production of SAF using the Take-off method, may take 10 to 15 years, the insights gained in catalyst development, CO2 conversion, and process optimization are already valuable for other chemical processes.”

Some partners are already working on the next phase. "Integration is key", Lawien explains. “In the follow-up project we will be exploring the integration of multiple process steps within a single reactor, an approach that has the potential to substantially lower both capital and operating expenditures.”

The regulatory landscape is pushing hard for change. The EU's ReFuelEU directive mandates increasing SAF percentages: 6% by 2030, rising to 70% by 2050, with 35% required to be synthetic. "With sufficient funding and the right expertise, we could compress the timeline to industrial implementation", Lawien says. "The urgency is there, the technology is proven, now it's about scaling up."

## Read more

Interested in contributing to the next phase of sustainable aviation fuel development? Contact our business developers and download the detailed TAKE-OFF project results report.

Download report

## Meet the expert

- Lawien Zubeir

  Senior Scientist Sustainable Process and Energy Systems

## Contact us

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