Participated · Series B · Jul 2023

WasteFuel develops scalable technologies—including anaerobic digestion and methanol production—to convert bio-based municipal and agricultural waste into lower-emission fuels such as bio-methanol. The company plans to build multiple bio-methanol plants globally in collaboration with local strategic partners, including waste companies. Its first project is expected to be a waste-to-bio-methanol plant in Dubai, UAE, and it has a pipeline of additional projects to develop. WasteFuel was founded by Trevor Neilson and Alejandro Estrada and was launched by i(x) Net Zero. The company aims to supply lower-carbon alternatives for hard-to-abate sectors like shipping. bp has signed a memorandum of understanding to offtake produced bio-methanol and to collaborate on optimizing production. WasteFuel uses proven technology to convert municipal waste into aviation-grade sustainable fuels that it says burn at least 80% less carbon than fossil-fuel based aviation fuel. The company reports its SAF has a Carbon Intensity (C.I.) of 0 versus an average C.I. of 41 for alternative SAFs and a baseline of 89.4 for non-renewable aviation fuel. At full capacity a single biorefinery will convert 1 million tons of municipal waste into 30 million gallons of SAF annually. WasteFuel is developing a plant in Manila, Philippines, in partnership with Prime Infra, slated to be operational in 2025, with plans to import the fuel into Los Angeles for distribution across NetJets operations. The company frames its product as addressing both the global waste crisis and aviation emissions by reducing landfill methane and producing low-carbon fuel. WasteFuel and partners plan to develop four additional biorefineries in the coming years.