David is a consultant specialising in the production of sustainable aviation fuels. David works with multiple partners including international chemical companies, recognised household brands, pilot plants, academia and government bodies analysing the potential feedstocks for production of biobased commodities, evaluation of the process economics and aligning policy with internationally recognised standards. David has a special interest in sustainable aviation fuel.  

David is currently working on the WASTE2FUNC project which is an EU funded project through BBI-JTU. The project is focused on producing biosurfactants and biobased lactic acid from 2nd generation biomass and waste. David is leading the analysing of the feedstocks for the two pilot plants and will evaluate the economics of developing the pilot facilities. He is also undertaking some work for the Department for Transport, developing their policy for biofuels developed from forestry material and agricultural residues.

Prior to joining NNFCC David did his undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Leeds. He enjoys learning about how materials and energy and produced from raw materials. Following his success on his master’s project which looked at developing silver nanowires for photovoltaic applications he was invited to join the Bioenergy CDT to do a PhD at the University of Leeds. The focus of his PhD was alternative biomass for heating applications trying to tackle the issue of decarbonising heat with biomass unsuitable for other applications.