Wednesday, 9 September 2026 - London

Carbon Neutral Fuels (CNF) and Energy Estate (EE) sign Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to advance development of a sustainable aviation fuel project in Queensland

• CNF and EE will collaborate in the development of a sustainable aviation fuel project in North Queensland using sugarcane agricultural waste as feed stock.

• Collaboration will evaluate feed stock supply, site selection, pathway selection and off-take, marking CNF’s first step into the Australian market.

• The parties goal is to support Australia’s fuel security and upcoming SAF mandate targets by drawing on CNF’s UK and European experience.

Carbon Neutral Fuels (CNF), a leading UK developer of low carbon liquid fuels projects, including Project Starling, has signed an MOU with Energy Estate, an energy and infrastructure development company headquartered in Australia, to explore the development of a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) project in North Queensland. The MOU - CNF's first in Australia - was signed today at the 2nd Annual Synthetic Fuels Conference in London.

The agreement, signed with BioNQ Developments, part of the Energy Estate group, will see the two companies work together to evaluate the potential to produce SAF from sugarcane agricultural waste, looking at feed stock supply, site selection, pathway selection and off-take. CNF views Australia as a burgeoning market, and is keen to support the country's fuel security and low carbon liquid fuel ambitions, with this MOU marking the company's first step toward project development in the region.

The two parties will now work together to evaluate the opportunity in more detail. This MOU builds upon the strategic affiliation signed between Energy Estate and Queensland Cane Agriculture and Renewables (QCAR) earlier this year to advance the BioNQ Project, positioning sugarcane as a critical solution to Australia’s fuel security challenge while delivering long-term regional economic benefits.

Sophie Zienkiewicz, Co-founder and Director of Carbon Neutral Fuels, said:
"Collaborating with our colleagues at Energy Estate on the development of a sugar-cane-based SAF project in Queensland is the first step toward meeting Australia’s upcoming mandate targets. This project will become a vital asset in Australia’s domestic energy security and at CNF we are delighted to be able to share our learnings from the UK and European landscape to help inform Australia’s low carbon liquid fuel strategy.”

Simon Currie, Co-Founder of ,Energy Estate, said:
“Energy Estate is committed to the development of the bio economy in Queensland. North Queensland is the right location to harness abundant existing feed stock and unlock new resources by investment in infrastructure. Our partnership with CNF will help us to accelerate development of BioNQ by leveraging experience from other markets globally."

This MOU was signed in London by the teams from Energy Estate and Carbon Neutral Fuels at the 2nd Global Synthetic Fuels Assembly hosted by The Energy Huddle, a leading industry connector for low carbon fuels sectors.

ENDS