Discover the ToFuel Project: From Tomato Residues to Sustainable Aviation Fuel

Nicoleta Talpes
3 days ago
1 min read

Alongside the launch of its official website, the ToFuel project has released its project flyer a concise overview of the project's goals, core technologies, and consortium.

Download the flyer

ToFuel is a Horizon Europe-funded research project (Grant Agreement No. 101235233) coordinated by TU Graz, bringing together 11 partners from 7 European countries for a 48-month project running from January 2026 to December 2029. With a total budget of €3.5 million, the project develops an integrated biorefinery concept to convert tomato production and processing residues into Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and valuable co-products.

The EU is the world's third largest tomato producer, harvesting around 17 million tonnes annually. Tomato pomace the seeds, peels and fibrous material left after processing is largely underutilised. ToFuel aims to change that, demonstrating how this agricultural waste stream can feed directly into SAF production, potentially covering up to 3% of Europe's SAF demand by 2030.

Five core technologies sit at the heart of the project: biomass fractionation, microbial lipid production, algae-based carbon capture, lipid purification and upgrading via the HEFA route, and closed-loop water management. The relevant technologies are being demonstrated at TRL 5, preparing the system for industrial scale-up.