How a Canadian sibling duo are promising cost-competitive e-SAF by 2031
Aeon Blue's innovative seawater-to-SAF technology aims to achieve fossil fuel cost parity while removing CO2 from the atmosphere.
"That is a bold claim. That is an extraordinary claim. It is an unbelievable claim that you can hit cost parity with fossil fuels!" says Deóis Ua Cearnaigh, Chief Technology Officer of Aeon Blue.
Not only is Canadian carbon capture and e-fuels start-up Aeon Blue making the cost parity claim—that too by 2031—but it also claims to have the academic evidence to prove it, which it will soon publish. "As Carl Sagan said, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence," states Ua Cearnaigh.
"The whole reason why we are doing what we're doing, why we get up in the morning, and why we're growing this startup is to achieve cost parity with fossil fuels," explains CEO Lark Meadow. The company's goal, she says, "is to reduce gigatons of CO2" for which they know they have "to move as fast as possible."
Siblings Lark Meadow and Deóis "Yoshi" Ua Cearnaigh are the Founders of Aeon Blue, pioneering a novel approach to producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
Ua Cearnaigh, an electrochemist and renewable energy scientist, spent the first part of his career building, testing, deconstructing, and validating the core technology. Serving as CEO, Meadow brings her extensive project development experience to drive the company's growth.
While their technology could produce e-fuels for various sectors, they've chosen to focus on aviation—an industry that will likely remain dependent on liquid fuels for decades to come, even as other transport sectors shift to electrification.
Seawater to SAF along with monetisable byproducts
At its core, their technology uses seawater, air, and renewable energy. The company recently achieved a significant milestone with the debut of "The Mother," its integrated technology demonstrator.
The process starts with saltwater electrolysis, synchronised with variable renewable energy sources. This produces green hydrogen while simultaneously enabling carbon capture from the air. But, where traditional processes waste byproducts, Aeon Blue turns them into revenue.
"If you're electrolysing fresh water," Ua Cearnaigh explains, "you get hydrogen gas, which is what you want, oxygen gas, which you throw away, and acid and base inside the electrolyser, which neutralises each other and turns into heat. In fact, for all the energy that you put in, the only thing you get out is hydrogen and a hot river."
Instead, Aeon Blue's process produces high-grade technical water and green oxidisers—products with established hundred-billion-dollar markets. These additional revenue streams help subsidise their fuel costs. According to Meadow, these products "spread the risk, spread the cost over all these products, and allow us to reduce the fuel cost for faster adoption into the market."
Other companies are exploring seawater-based solutions for SAF. Recently, we profiled Dutch startup Brineworks, which is developing a similar approach to CO2 extraction from seawater. However, while Brineworks focuses on providing e-fuel feedstock, Aeon Blue has chosen a more vertically integrated approach.
"We are doing the nose-to-tail in-house," explains Ua Cearnaigh. "We have a proprietary interruptible electrolyser, and we can also work directly with seawater with fewer pre-processing steps." It's an approach similar to "planning your errands efficiently instead of making separate trips."
From canada to the world
With the United States set to embrace more fossil fuel-friendly policies following Donald Trump's election victory, we have recommended that investors look at countries like Canada and Chile, which are actively courting cleantech businesses with stable regulatory environments and generous incentives.
The pair echoed this by lauding the support they received at both the federal and provincial levels, with their first facility planned for Nova Scotia.
"The Canadian government reached out to us," Meadow recalls. "They said, 'Hey, we heard you have a hydrogen and direct air capture technology. Would you be interested in having a conversation?'"
In her words, the resulting support has been "overwhelming." The company additionally secured backing through Nova Scotia's GreenShoots programme, an initiative launched in 2020 to support early-stage companies focused on innovation in cleantech. Furthermore, they've been selected for the prestigious DOE-backed DAC Pioneer 2024 programme by AirMiners, which provides direct air capture startups with resources and national laboratory partnerships.
In addition to the support offered, there were other benefits to locating in Nova Scotia. According to the International Energy Agency, Canada's Atlantic coast offers some of the world's cheapest green hydrogen production potential due to renewable energy resources.
Most importantly, Aeon Blue says the environmental potential is significant. For every tonne of e-fuel produced, their process removes three tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere, plus avoids an additional seven tonnes by displacing fossil fuels.
Their Cape Breton facility, opening in 2027, will initially produce 1,500-2,000 tonnes of e-fuel annually alongside 6,800 tonnes of net carbon removals, with plans to triple these numbers.
Recent academic validation has strengthened their position. A study in Energy Conversion and Management demonstrates their process improves energy efficiency threefold over benchmarks, achieving 76% carbon capture efficiency and 79.5% overall process efficiency.
The path forward and competing on economics
In the cleantech space, many companies depend heavily on government subsidies and incentives, creating what veteran climate tech investor Sean O'Sullivan calls "zombie businesses"—companies that require perpetual life support rather than launch support. At SimpliFlying, we agree—startups need to compete on having a better product, not just a more sustainable one.
Aeon Blue's founders support this view, saying that the company is able to sustain itself.
"Obviously, we have sustainability goals; we have a reason for being here, but if your reason doesn't result in making money, you're dead anyway," explains Ua Cearnaigh.
Though Ua Cearnaigh is realistic that it won't match the extraordinary profits of Middle Eastern oil production, he is confident that its approach can deliver both environmental benefits and financial returns.
"Nobody competes with that profit margin. But everybody will get paid, our investors will get their returns, and we will out-compete on price."
In a follow-up, Meadow told us that they had designed their technology to operate without requiring subsidies and incentives (such as the standard green premium for fuel). This was so that Aeon Blue would thrive, regardless of changes in political opinion.
The company's initial Cape Breton facility is just the beginning. Their business model envisions a network of facilities in what Meadow calls "stranded or remote" renewable energy locations—places with abundant resources but minimal competition for that power. Their scaling strategy emphasises joint ventures rather than technology licensing, with ongoing discussions about facilities worldwide.
As airlines face increasing pressure to decarbonise and SAF mandates take effect in Europe and elsewhere, the market for solutions like Aeon Blue's is set to grow. The question is whether they can scale quickly enough to meet that demand while realising their promised price advantage. For this sibling team, the answer is a resounding yes.