US startup turns cow manure into jet fuel

August 19, 2025

California-based startup, Circularity Fuels, hopes to accelerate the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) using its compact, electric-powered reactor unit.

The Ouro Reactor converts biogas from dairy farm waste into syngas, a precursor to jet fuel.

On August 19, the company announced that the technology successfully converted biogas from a California Central Valley dairy farm.

This new electric reforming system could create jet fuel right on the farm. 

Interestingly, the reactor does it all at just 1/100th the capital cost of conventional systems. The dramatic reduction in capital expenditure could make on-site fuel production a realistic prospect for individual farms.

Over 20,000 large livestock farms in the U.S. produce nearly a trillion pounds of manure annually, but less than 6% capture the biogas from this waste.

“Farmers in the U.S. and around the world are sitting on an untapped goldmine. We’re giving them the ability to turn waste into a profitable product that airlines desperately need,” said Dr. Stephen Beaton, CEO and Founder of Circularity Fuels, in the press release. 

A promising solution

Sustainable aviation fuel has been a promising but expensive solution, limited to massive, centralized facilities. 

But this development could change it as the tech is a hundred times cheaper and small enough to fit on a farm.

The Ouro Reactor takes biogas—a mix of methane and carbon dioxide from decomposing manure in waste lagoons—and converts it into a key component for jet fuel. 

The syngas can be further processed into jet fuel using the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, a well-established industrial method.

Moreover, this development solves another huge problem. Most farms aren’t connected to the pipelines needed for traditional fuel production. 

The company says the new technology will allow liquid fuel to be produced on-site and trucked using existing transportation networks. 

“For the first time, farmers will become renewable fuel producers without waiting for pipeline infrastructure that will never come,” Beaton said.

The successful demonstration validates several key innovations.

The reactor is said to be the first to electrically convert raw biogas from a farm’s waste lagoon into a jet-fuel precursor without combustion. 

This system is easy to use because it plugs into a standard electrical connection and can directly process raw biogas, skipping expensive pre-treatment steps.

In addition, the reactor can maintain stable operation even with the contaminants that would damage other reformers.

Sustainable fuel goals
 
This milestone comes when airlines face increasing mandates to incorporate SAF into their fuel mix.

SAF production meets less than 1% of the industry’s demand.

“If deployed across all viable U.S. waste sites – including farms, landfills, and wastewater treatment plants – biogas-to-SAF technology could produce 42 million gallons per day, meeting 70% of the nation’s jet fuel demand,” the press release shared via email noted.

Circularity Fuels will showcase its new technology at the SAF Global Summit in London next month. It also aims to demonstrate the full biogas-to-SAF process on a California farm later this year.

With the large-scale adoption of this tech, the company could help airlines meet their sustainable fuel goals and create billions of dollars in new revenue for farmers.