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Zero Petroleum is setting up its Laboratory Zero at Bicester Heritage to develop fossil-free synthetic fuels.

The new 10,000sq ft laboratory and engineering base is set to produce synthetic aviation fuel within the next few months.

The creation of the new facility follows the recent announcement of an RAF contract and the completion of a second round of funding in July, in which a very high level of interest was shown by professional investors and global commercial partners from the aviation and automotive industries.

Zero will now bolster its core team of talented individuals with 25-30 new technical experts, from technicians to run rigs to performance and chemical engineers to develop the synthetic fuel technology.

The creation of the new facility follows the recent announcement of the RAF contract and the completion of a second round of funding in July, in which a very high level of interest was shown by professional investors and global commercial partners from the aviation and automotive industries.

Paddy Lowe, Zero Petroleum founder and CEO, said: ‘We have decided to position our technology centre at Bicester Heritage due to the abundance of highly skilled local labour and industries, which are directly relevant to the research facility we are building, as well as the site community’s forward-thinking initiatives such as the Scrambles, which will allow us to present our programme to the public. We are looking forward to integrating with the other interesting and relevant businesses at Bicester Heritage.’

The company’s synthetic ZERO® SynAVGAS® and ZERO® SynAVTUR® fuels for aviation and its ZERO® Syn95® petrol are direct drop-in replacements for existing fossil-based fuels. The fuels have the potential to fill a crucial gap in the power requirements for the future as they deliver the same performance and range as existing products, but are entirely sustainable and fossil-free.

They are manufactured by extracting hydrogen from water and capturing carbon from atmospheric carbon dioxide, a process that is entirely sustainable when using renewable energy sources such as wind or solar. When burned they emit exactly the same amount of carbon as is used in their production, creating a fully circular process that maintains the balance of the environment.

Daniel Geoghegan, Chief Executive of Bicester Motion, commented: ‘We have followed keenly the developments by Paddy and his team and are excited for them join our site. The work that Zero Petroleum is doing is a positive step towards sustainability in the mobility sector alongside many other industries and we look forward to seeing their project develop and grow.’