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Jet fuel isn’t just dirty. It is astonishingly good at its job. That is what makes aviation decarbonisation so hard.
In this episode of Climate Confident, I’m joined by Dan Sutton, co-founder and CEO of Syntholene Energy, a climate tech company working on clean, drop-in synthetic aviation fuel, or eSAF. We talk about one of the thorniest challenges in the energy transition: how to cut emissions from aviation without pretending long-haul flight can simply be electrified into submission.
You’ll hear why synthetic fuel has struggled to scale, why hydrogen cost is often the defining economic bottleneck, and how Syntholene is betting that geothermal heat, solid oxide electrolysis, and captured carbon can shift the maths. We also dig into why cheap, baseload clean energy matters far more than glossy net zero pledges. Funny how physics remains stubbornly unimpressed by marketing decks.
Dan also makes the case that fossil fuels carry a supply chain risk we still underprice: political volatility, fragile routes, and exposure to regions that can quickly turn energy security into an economic headache. We explore mandates, project finance, policy, the role of Iceland’s geothermal resources, and whether synthetic aviation fuel can become cost-competitive without relying forever on subsidies.
This is a practical, challenging conversation about climate tech, emissions reduction, aviation, infrastructure, and what it will really take to make clean fuels commercially credible.
🎙️ Listen now to hear how Dan Sutton and Syntholene Energy are tackling one of the hardest problems in decarbonisation.
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