Berkeley-based business Green Fuels Research, in partnership with the School of Chemical Engineering at Hà Nội University of Science and Technology has been awarded a grant by Innovate UK.

The government funding, through the Energy Catalyst 8, will allow the firm to conduct a feasibility study into the conversion of pangasius (catfish) mortalities and processing waste into a sustainable biofuel for distributed power generation.

It is hoped the project will address all three areas of the energy trilemma (affordable and available, green and clean, secure and reliable) through design of a process and facility for converting fishery waste to sustainable, low cost, net zero carbon diesel generator fuel which can be used within existing infrastructure to provide secure energy supply to fish farms.

Although grid connectivity in Vietnam is relatively high, the country's aquaculture sector, with farms frequently located in remote areas, is heavily reliant on fossil fuel diesel generators.

The grant will aid the assembly of a demonstration plant, development of a commercially viable business plan and value chain for future commercialisation and opportunities for industry and community engagement. It will also provide a detailed life-cycle analysis to demonstrate clearly the overall CO2eq savings in comparison with the current state-of-the-art.

Paul Hilditch, Green Fuels group chief strategy officer said: "We are genuinely excited that PoWGEN will focus on Vietnam, the world's fourth largest aquaculture producer at 6.4 million tonnes per annum.

"The sector there has grown exponentially at 20 per cent annually over the last decade. Based on a 20 per cent average fish mortality rate, some 400,000 tonnes of energy-rich pangasius waste material is potentially available every year, itself increasing at an annual rate of 20 per cent.

"As feedstock is the life blood of any biofuels operation, we are confident that this project can have a dramatic impact on decarbonisation of power generation in the region."

In the next five years, the Green Fuels group aims to establish or participate in fuel production operations in key markets worldwide, building on the company's deep experience in renewable fuel tech, especially in decentralized refining, and on its IP in sustainable aviation and marine fuels.