UCT spinout selected into global fellowship to drive clean fuel innovation

For decades, South Africa has been a global leader in synthetic fuel technology, with Sasol pioneering industrial-scale production through the Fischer–Tropsch process. Now, a team of University of Cape Town (UCT) researchers is writing a new chapter in that history – this time replacing fossil fuels with carbon dioxide and green hydrogen to create sustainable, climate-friendly fuels.

Their innovation has won them a coveted spot in the Breakthrough Energy Fellowship, a highly competitive international programme that supports promising ideas and technologies, particularly in their early stages, with the potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions at scale. Out of more than 1 500 applicants worldwide, only 22 start-ups were selected for the 2025/26 cohort. The UCT spinout, C STAR, is the first African company ever to be chosen.

“This fellowship is really a catalyst for us,” said Dr Wijnand Marquart, the chief operations officer of C STAR. “It gives us not only funding but also access to world-class mentorship, investor networks, and the kind of training that’s usually out of reach for deep-tech start-ups. For us, it accelerates everything – from scaling the technology to preparing for commercialisation.”

The fellowship provides one year of direct financial support, but its impact goes far beyond money. It connects fellows to an international network of climate entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and industry veterans. The programme offers intensive workshops on building companies, navigating investors, and defining markets.

“We’ve already started receiving requests to talk to international investors. Without this fellowship, those doors simply wouldn’t open.”

“For founders in deep-tech and climate-tech, these are the hardest things to learn alone,” explained Professor Nico Fischer, C STAR co-founder and long-time UCT catalysis researcher. “Now, if we have a challenge, we can put it to a WhatsApp group that includes every previous fellow worldwide – and instantly get advice from someone who’s been there before. It’s an incredible boost.”

C STAR’s achievement is also a milestone for Africa. “It puts us on the global map,” said Professor Fischer. “We’ve already started receiving requests to talk to international investors. Without this fellowship, those doors simply wouldn’t open.”

Turning CO₂ into clean fuel

At the heart of C STAR’s mission is a deceptively simple idea: take carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas everyone wants to eliminate, and turn it into liquid fuels using renewable hydrogen.

“This is about using CO₂ as a feedstock instead of fossil fuels,” said Professor Michael Claeys, veteran UCT researcher and co-founder. “The process itself – the Fischer–Tropsch reaction – is not new. It was invented a century ago, and South Africa has been applying it for 75 years. The novelty lies in replacing coal and natural gas with CO₂ and green hydrogen, and in how efficiently we can run the reaction.”

The team has spent decades advancing the science. Their breakthrough came with catalysts and processes that achieve extremely high conversions, making the system viable on smaller scales. Unlike Sasol’s massive Secunda plant, C STAR envisions modular units producing just a few barrels of fuel per day.

“That’s a game-changer,” said Professor Claeys. “You can deploy these units on farms, at mines, or in small industrial settings. They don’t require billions of rands of infrastructure. They bring sustainable fuel production closer to where it’s needed.”

“This technology has the potential to be part of the solution for hard-to-decarbonise sectors.”

The need for sustainable fuels is urgent. According to the International Energy Agency, even in the most optimistic scenario for reaching net-zero emissions by 2050, the world will still require about 16 million barrels of liquid fuels daily.

“Electrification can only go so far,” Fischer explained. “Sectors like aviation, shipping, and heavy industry will remain dependent on liquid fuels. If those fuels aren’t fossil-free, we won’t achieve meaningful reductions in emissions.”

By using CO₂ as feedstock and renewable hydrogen as energy input, C STAR’s process can cut lifecycle emissions by up to 98% compared with conventional fossil fuels. “It’s a massive reduction,” Fischer said. “This technology has the potential to be part of the solution for hard-to-decarbonise sectors.”

Years in the making

Although C STAR was only recently incorporated, the research behind it spans decades. Claeys, Fischer and Marquart all worked in UCT’s Catalysis Institute, where the now-closed Centre of Excellence in Catalysis (c*change) provided 20 years of support for advanced fuel research.

“Many of the ideas we’re pursuing now were seeded in that programme,” Claeys recalled. “We built a small laboratory unit that produces 300 millilitres of synthetic diesel per day. It’s modest, but it proved the concept works. The next step is scaling up – and that’s what the fellowship enables.”

With Breakthrough Energy Fellows support, the team will build a new demonstration plant capable of producing three litres of fuel per day on UCT’s campus. That may sound small, but scaling from lab glassware to litres requires overcoming immense engineering challenges, from controlling temperatures to managing gas flows.

“This is the stepping stone towards units producing a barrel per day,” said Marquart. “Once you reach that level, you can actually start supplying customers on site.”

“The next step is scaling up – and that’s what the fellowship enables.”

The fellowship comes with prestige, but also pressure. “It’s not just sitting in workshops and listening,” Fischer said. “The Breakthrough Energy Fellows team expects us to deliver. We’re working nights, weekends, and holidays. Wijnand has gone full-time into the company. It’s a huge commitment, but that’s the reality of deep-tech start-ups.”

To sustain momentum, C STAR is now raising a pre-seed investment round, with interest already from UCT’s Evergreen Fund and international venture capitalists. The funding will allow them to expand their three-person team and hire engineers, business managers, and finance experts.

“This company will create jobs,” Fischer emphasised. “Graduates from UCT, from South Africa, will be part of building something that could change the way we produce fuel. It’s incredibly exciting.”

The team’s medium-term goal is to deliver containerised, modular plants that can be deployed at industrial or agricultural sites. Long-term, they hope to license their technology to larger companies, helping decarbonise fuel production worldwide.

More than just research

For the three scientists, the journey is deeply personal. Claeys, a career academic, said the chance to see his laboratory work make a real-world impact is hugely motivating. “It’s rewarding to train postgraduate students, of course, but to see the research implemented in society – that’s what really drives me.”

Marquart, who completed his PhD under Claeys and Fischer, described it as a “full-circle moment”. He said, “To be part of this work as a student and now to help take it to commercial scale is extremely satisfying.”

Fischer emphasised the broader duty. “Climate change is the defining challenge of our time. We have a responsibility to use our expertise to do something about it. We’re small and agile compared to big corporations, so we can run ahead and show that sustainable technologies work. Hopefully, that motivates others to follow.”

For UCT, C Star’s inclusion in the fellowship also showcases its Vision 2030 strategy extension, which emphasises not only research and teaching, but also innovation and entrepreneurship.

“This is exactly what the university wants to see: spinouts that transform society.”

“This is exactly what the university wants to see: spinouts that transform society,” Fischer said. “We’re taking decades of excellent research, human capital, and knowledge, and turning it into something tangible that can be deployed in the world. And it’s happening right here, starting on campus.”

The demonstration plant planned for UCT will serve as both proof-of-concept and inspiration. “It shows students that the research they’re working on doesn’t end in the lab,” said Claeys. “It can become real solutions for the world’s most pressing problems.”

The road ahead is steep. Most start-ups fail, especially in deep-tech. But C STAR’s founders believe the combination of technical excellence, global support, and local commitment gives them a fighting chance.

“The next two years will be crucial,” said Marquart. “When we succeed in building the three-litre plant and securing investment, we’ll be well on our way to barrel-scale production. From there, the sky’s the limit.”

For now, the recognition of being Africa’s first Breakthrough Energy Fellows is motivation enough. “It validates years of hard work,” said Claeys. “It opens doors that were previously shut. And most importantly, it allows us to take a technology born in South Africa’s laboratories and make it part of the global fight against climate change.”