Why was FGA set up?
FGA was developed by Sarah Wilkin in 2019, she co-wrote a grant application, and alongside the University of Amsterdam was funded by Booking.com to develop the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) research project www.jetfuelfromwaste.com.
December 2018 at Booking.com HQ in Amsterdam
While Sarah was business developing for the University of Amsterdam project she realised after some time that the investors were not ready to invest in SAF, 10 years in the making, there were barriers to accessing funding for research, there was little public awareness and the customer was not there. SAF was not on the agenda, not part of many grant programmes and it became apparent that the next funding would not be found within 12 months, and the grant would run out.
After speaking to the airlines it was clear they could not commit to paying 3 times the price of kerosene for the new greener fuel (SAF), while staying competitive; and policy and incentives were not yet encouraging investors to take the plunge. Was this the end of the project?
No, this was the start of FGA.
Sarah switched from digital advertising to pursue a new career in the aviation and travel industry to directly contribute to the energy transition. Through time spent researching, attending aviation conferences and events in Brussels; by meeting scientists, experts and investors, Sarah was able to gain an understanding of the sustainable fuel and the aviation landscape and subsequently become part of developing the SAF and the sustainable travel market.
She has since been recognised as a thought leader in sustainable travel, has created one of the first alliance to bring stakeholders together to accelerate SAF work and has been listed as one of the top innovators in sustainable business travel.She is passionate about innovation and tech and happily brings this to FGA to connect dots across aviation, sustainable travel and carbon pricing.
You can watch FGA’s story being told by our founder online here and read Sarah’s recent interview on the Troopl website.
FGA believe that through an alliance we can fly green.
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