"Green Carbon Synthetic Energy" Completes Nearly 100 Million Yuan Pre-A Round of Financing with Self-developed Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis Process for SAF Production | Exclusive Report by 36Kr

Text | Liu Jingqiong

Editor | A Zhi

Cover Source | Provided by the enterprise

36Kr learned that Green Carbon Synthetic Energy (Shaoxing) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Green Carbon Synthetic Energy"), a manufacturer of green aviation fuel, recently announced the completion of a nearly 100 million yuan Pre-A round of financing. This round of financing was led by Rongtuo Capital, with follow-on investments from Delian Capital and existing shareholder Linear Capital. Yundao Capital served as the long-term exclusive financial advisor. The funds raised will be used for the construction of the first self-operated factory and the supplementation of the company's daily operating cash flow.

Green Carbon Synthetic Energy was established in July 2023 and focuses on producing green aviation fuel (SAF) and other green fuels and industrial raw materials from raw materials such as agricultural and forestry waste and municipal solid waste through its self-developed Fischer-Tropsch synthesis technology. Dr. Xiao Lifeng, the founder and CEO, once worked in a world - class nanocatalysis laboratory. The core members of the team come from world - class nanocatalysis laboratories, leading domestic energy state - owned enterprises, and listed companies, and have in - depth knowledge of nanocatalyst R & D, industrial nanocatalyst production, and process engineering.

Currently, the team has completed the core technology verification of the self - developed Fischer - Tropsch synthesis process for producing SAF and is now constructing the first self - operated factory. After the factory is put into operation, the annual production capacity of SAF will reach thousands of tons.

Products of Green Carbon Synthetic Energy (Fischer - Tropsch wax, light oil)

Products of Green Carbon Synthetic Energy (Light oil)

Products of Green Carbon Synthetic Energy (Fischer - Tropsch wax)

Self - developed Fischer - Tropsch synthesis process for producing SAF, with both performance and cost advantages

Around 2020, the European Union and the United States successively incorporated carbon emission reduction in the aviation industry into their national strategies, setting targets for the blending ratio and production volume of SAF in 2030 and 2050. They supported the development of the SAF industry through policy measures such as differential subsidies and tax credits. Major airlines began to purchase SAF on a large scale, raising their SAF usage targets for 2030 to between 10% and 30%. Overseas SAF enterprises represented by Neste began to actively expand their production capacity.

In 2023, driven by the dual factors of domestic crude oil self - control and the European Union's energy conservation and emission reduction, the Chinese SAF market was bound to rise in the short term. However, at that time, the domestic SAF technology and market were relatively underdeveloped. In this context, Dr. Xiao decided to return to China to start a business and founded Green Carbon Synthetic Energy with several colleagues.

At the beginning of its establishment, after comparing existing routes in the market, including HEFA, FT (Fischer - Tropsch synthesis), and ATJ (alcohol - to - jet synthesis), Green Carbon Synthetic Energy finally established a technical route of self - developed Fischer - Tropsch synthesis for producing SAF.

When talking about the considerations for choosing the Fischer - Tropsch synthesis technology, Xiao Lifeng said, "Most domestic enterprises producing SAF use the HEFA process, which currently has the highest technological maturity. However, HEFA also has the problem of limited supply of raw material waste cooking oil. Other routes, such as the ATJ alcohol - to - jet synthesis method, use cellulose ethanol or starch ethanol as raw materials. Starch ethanol involves food security issues in China and is difficult to implement, and it also does not meet the raw material requirements of the European Union. The raw material cost of cellulose ethanol is too high. Although the FT (Fischer - Tropsch synthesis) technical route was still gradually entering the demonstration stage at that time, we judged that it had the greatest potential in the future. The main reason is that its raw material is agricultural waste, which has a large output and the lowest cost, and there will be no problem of raw material constraints. The main problem of FT lies in the technical bottleneck, but there were not many enterprises capable of this technology globally at that time, and everyone was at a similar starting line."

Within less than two years, Green Carbon Synthetic Energy completed the self - development of the Fischer - Tropsch synthesis process for producing SAF. It optimized the catalyst and process path on the basis of traditional Fischer - Tropsch technology, and its independently developed core process package achieved 100% localization. "In terms of technical strength, our catalyst performance and production process can rank among the world's first - tier. Under the same medium - pressure and medium - temperature environment, we use a unique catalyst formula, and the overall yield is 1.5 to 2 times that of our competitors. Relying on China's upstream equipment and raw material industrial chain capabilities, the overall cost of the SAF we produce also has a great advantage." Xiao Lifeng added.

The first self - operated factory is about to be put into operation, with an annual SAF production capacity of thousands of tons

In September 2024, the pilot application of SAF in China was officially launched. Since then, favorable policies for SAF have been introduced at an accelerated pace. In March 2025, the second - stage SAF pilot was launched, and four airports, including Beijing Daxing, Chengdu Shuangliu, Zhengzhou Xinzheng, and Ningbo Lishe, implemented a 1% regular blending and filling of SAF for domestic flights. Similar to the global market trend, the demand for SAF in the Chinese market began to rise rapidly, while the production capacity on the supply side did not keep up.

According to statistics, the global SAF market space will be about 100 billion yuan in 2025. "The global demand for SAF this year is several million tons, but the existing production capacity can only meet 40% - 50% of the demand. In the stage of short supply in the market, whoever can achieve mass production first and control costs can get the biggest share of the market."

In terms of production capacity improvement, Green Carbon Synthetic Energy's first self - operated factory is under construction in Inner Mongolia. The local abundant agricultural and forestry waste raw materials can further reduce the cost of SAF production. After the factory is officially put into operation at the end of this year, Green Carbon Synthetic Energy will have an annual production capacity of thousands of tons of SAF. The unique catalyst and process of Green Carbon Synthetic Energy ensure high economic efficiency and a unit economic model within this production capacity range.

After the first demonstration factory with a production capacity of thousands of tons is put into operation, Green Carbon Synthetic Energy will start the next round of financing and begin to plan the construction of a demonstration production factory with a production capacity of ten thousand tons. At the same time, Green Carbon Synthetic Energy has also launched the external technology licensing service for the core process package with a production capacity of thousands of tons to help solve the comprehensive utilization problem of small and medium - sized biomass waste sites in China.

Views of the investors

Rongtuo Capital said: In the process of accelerating decarbonization in the global aviation industry, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) has become a key solution. Current mainstream technical routes are all facing bottlenecks: HEFA has a shortage of raw materials, AtJ has high costs, and PTL technology is not mature. In contrast, Fischer - Tropsch synthesis has the potential to be the most promising path for large - scale SAF production due to its wide range of raw materials and mature process. The team of Green Carbon Synthetic Energy comes from a world - class nanocatalysis laboratory and has both academic research and industrial implementation experience. Its independently developed new catalyst and supporting process have the characteristics of high product yield, long service life, and strong selectivity, which are perfectly suitable for the biomass distributed production model and provide key technical support for the large - scale application of SAF.

Delian Capital said: Against the background of accelerating decarbonization in the global aviation industry, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) has become a key breakthrough point. Traditional processes are restricted by raw materials and costs, while the team of Green Carbon Synthetic Energy has created an efficient and low - cost biomass synthesis solution through innovative catalytic technology and process optimization. Its technology is not only suitable for local resource characteristics but also shows the potential for large - scale production in engineering verification. We look forward to Green Carbon Synthetic Energy continuing to lead the technological innovation of SAF, promoting the transformation of aviation energy with solid industrialization capabilities, and contributing Chinese wisdom to the global "dual - carbon" goal. In the future, the company is expected to become an important promoter in the field of green aviation fuel, achieving a win - win situation between environmental benefits and commercial value.

Linear Capital said: We have always been concerned about projects that can achieve "affordable ESG". After closely observing the development of Green Carbon Synthetic Energy as a shareholder, we are more convinced of Dr. Xiao's team's ability to implement technology and clarity in commercial thinking, so we firmly decided to fully prorata follow - invest. We continue to believe in the global engineering replication ability of Green Carbon Synthetic Energy's Fischer - Tropsch synthesis process and look forward to the implementation of a benchmark project with an annual SAF production capacity of thousands of tons. We also believe that Green Carbon Synthetic Energy can become a global leading SAF technology, product, and process supplier by leveraging its globally leading process advantages and the cost advantages of the domestic supply chain.

Yundao Capital said: Green Carbon Synthetic Energy is an important layout of Yundao Capital in the field of new high - end materials. We are very glad to accompany Green Carbon Synthetic Energy in its growth, connect the upstream and downstream industrial chains, and reach the stage of large - scale industrialization. We have long been concerned about the global green energy and climate change - related fields and are well aware that the Fischer - Tropsch full - industrial - chain process mastered by Green Carbon Synthetic Energy is extremely scarce and significant for the global green energy transformation. We firmly believe that Dr. Xiao's team will continue to make breakthroughs in technology and commercialization and will continue to accompany Green Carbon Synthetic Energy to become a global leading player in sustainable aviation fuel.