‍6 July 2026,Sydney: As the Iran crisishas made fuel security a global priority, Climate Tech Partners has doubled down on two Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) investments in the Netherlands and Australia through its Fund I. Qantas and Airbus are also investors via the Climate Tech Partners’ Aviation Sidecar.

Vertoro, a renewable oil company in the Netherlands has closed its €10m Series B round with €2.5m (~A$4m) investment from Climate Tech Partners alongwith Invest NL and Maersk.  Bio-oil is adrop-in product compatible with existing infrastructure, with applications in maritime fuel, SAF, bioplastics, and chemicals.

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Vertoro uses proprietary processes to convert industrial and forestry waste into bio-based products. Operating at low pressure and temperature without catalysts, the system is designed to deliver bio-oil at a structurally lower capex and operating cost.

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Vertoro has strong feedstock and offtake relationships with leading companies. The versatility of the bio-oil produced allows it to be used as maritime fuel, SAF or as a plastic replacement, offering multiple revenue streams and markets: the high-margin chemicals industry in the short term and offtakes with airlines and shipping companies inthe longer term.

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In Australia,Climate Tech Partners has invested $2 million in Australian climate technology company Wildfire Energy to scale its waste-to-energy and fuels platform.

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Wildfire Energy has developed a novel gasification technology that converts unprocessed waste - including red bin waste - into synthesis gas (syngas) which can be used to generate power, heat, and low-carbon fuels including methanol and SAF.

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Wildfire Energy is uniquely positioned to capture unserved small and medium-scale waste-to-energy markets, as its technology does not need any pre-processing, sorting ortreatment. Its technology is modular which scales efficiently. The feedstock is abundant, and offers itself as a solution for councils across Australia to avoid landfill space constraints.

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Both Vetoro and Wildfire Energy will use the investments to progress their technologies to commercial-scale deployment in modular form. Both companies then plan to license their technology globally to help enable the ramp-up of distributed plants where waste is readily available.

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The EU, United Kingdom, Singapore and Japan are countries leading the mandates of SAFadoption, with the UK and Japan mandating 10% of SAF by 2030.

These technologies enabling fuels to be produced price competitively domestically present a unique opportunity for Australia to build great independence and resilience. The availability of large amounts of suitable waste feedstock with a simple processopens the prospect for regional skilled jobs and the development of a high value-add industry.

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Patrick Sieb, Co-founder of Climate Tech Partners said:

“Domestic and sustainable fuel production is desperately needed - and the Iran crisis over the last two months has shown how volatile fuel supply chains are.

“The market is there. What our investments offer are pathways to lower cost of production, a modular technology that can easily be licensed globally and an opportunity to cross many industries from aviation, shipping to chemicals.”

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Fiona Messent, Qantas Chief Sustainability Officer said:

"Decarbonising aviation requires SAF to be produced at scale. Enabling domestic supply in Australia is our priority and Wildfire Energy's approach is exactly the kind of practical, scalable solution the industry needs as Australia establishes an industry and strengthens its national fuel security. Our investments in Wildfire and Netherlands-based Vertoro reflect our commitment to building the supply theindustry needs.”

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Stephen Forshaw, Airbus Chief Representative in Australia said:

What we like about Vertoro and Wildfire Energy is that they are expanding the range of feedstocks that can realistically be converted into aviation fuel, while ensuring compatibility with existing infrastructure. This is essential for Australia, given that we import more than 90% of our jet fuel but have vast quantities of agricultural, forestry and municipal waste. Our sovereign fuels industry should be built on smarter use of the waste and biomass resources we already have, which is why Airbus is backing the development of these technologies.  

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Dirk den Ouden, CEO of Vertoro said:

“Our bio-oi lproducts can be used as a drop in for multiple applications - shipping, aviation fuel, chemicals and plastics. We are in a new era of geopolitical instability. Sovereign fuel capability is what markets are seeking. With secure feedstock, we are a low cost option for both fuel security and low carbon energy production.”

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Greg Perkins, CEO and Co-founder of Wildfire Energy said:

“Recent global events have highlighted the vulnerabilities of relying solely on fuel imports.Wildfire’s technology converts abundant negative value wastes into low-cost sustainable fuels and chemicals, enabling local production to meet local demand. For the aviation sector our solution delivers a sovereign fuel supply and helps airlines meet mandates for sustainable aviation fuel which are coming into effect now. We have the technological solution, the efficient cost curve. Now we need to scale.”

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