ATI: Non-CO2 Programme

Key Features

This funding programme encourages industrial investment in the development of innovative technologies to reduce aviation’s non-CO2 emissions and their climate impacts.

Programme:     ATI

Award:     Share of up to £17 million

Opens: 3rd Feb 2025

Closes: 19th Feb 2025

! This scheme is opening soon

Overview

This Non-CO2 Programme focuses on addressing challenges with reducing non-CO2 emissions from aircraft, outlined in the ATI’s Non-CO2 Technologies Roadmap. Funding will be awarded from the total ATI Programme budget valued at £685m for 2023 to 2025 and an additional £975m for 2026 to 2030.

The Non-CO2 Programme is coordinated and managed by:

  • the Department for Business and Trade (DBT)
  • Innovate UK (IUK), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)
  • the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI)

All three organisations work in partnership. Together they deliver a portfolio of projects to meet the objectives and priorities of Destination Zero, including the ATI’s Non-CO2 Technologies Roadmap.

Scope

The ATI’s strategy and focus for investment is delivering clean growth for the UK aerospace sector. Eligible projects will develop technologies that will deliver lower emissions, improve competitiveness and/or grow the UK’s market share. This competition aims to fund innovative and competitive industrial research, technology development or enabling technologies in line with the ATI’s Non-CO2 Technologies Roadmap. The primary application for technologies developed through this competition should be for the civil aerospace sector but cross-sector application is valuable.

Your application

Projects should demonstrate specific alignment with the Non-CO2 Technologies Roadmap, which is split into three themes:

Fuel characteristics

Research supporting the development and adoption of fuels with the potential for reduced non-CO2 emissions, including SAFs and hydrogen. This may include research into how to deploy these different fuels most effectively to minimise overall climate impact. Fossil-derived fuels are potentially in scope where there is potential to reduce their non-carbon impact, for instance through changes to the aromatic or sulphur content.

Aircraft Technologies

Research focused on technologies designed to mitigate non-CO2 impacts which will be deployed onboard aircraft. These technologies may include components of fuel or propulsion systems or sensors for control or monitoring systems.

Knowledge, Data and Operations

Research related to understanding the climate impact of non-CO2 emissions from aircraft and how new technologies can mitigate them. This is expected to include modelling, and activities to support the validation or deployment of models and tools.

The Non-CO2 Technologies Roadmap has been generated following comprehensive consultation with industry, academia, aviation and international stakeholders. It complements the existing Destination Zero roadmaps; ultra-efficient technologies, zero-carbon technologies and cross-cutting enabling technologies. In some instances, non-CO2 technology research and development may also span across one or more of the other technology roadmaps.

If your project is not in scope, it will not be eligible for funding and will not be assessed. We will tell you the reason why.

Research categories

ATI will fund industrial research projects as defined in the guidance on categories of research and investment aid for research infrastructure.

Criteria

In the Outline Stage of the competition, you are required to submit a PowerPoint presentation (in PDF) and answer the short questions about your project. If your application is in scope, you will be invited to present your application to the Panel. Your presentation must address the following criteria:

Technology and Innovation

Describe project alignment with the Non-CO2 Technologies Roadmap and explain the benefits to the aerospace sector.

  • How does the project help to deliver the Non-CO2 Technologies Roadmap?
  • How do the planned project deliverables compare to current state-of-the-art technologies or competitor research?
  • Describe the non-CO2 emissions benefits, and operational and commercial benefits of the technology.

Describe the project ambition.

  • Explain the innovation step(s).
  • Why are the outputs from this project required?
  • What challenges does the research address?
  • Describe the key technology or knowledge base that is being developed in the project.
  • Describe any upstream dependencies for the project, or previous funding that this project builds on.

Exploitation and market

What are the routes to market and business opportunities?

  • What UK economic benefits are enabled by the project deliverables?
  • Describe the route to market and how it will be implemented.
  • Who are the customers for the project outputs, if applicable?
  • If applicable, state the addressable market size for the technology.

What are the exploitation opportunities for the project?

  • What is the timeline for exploitation of the technology or knowledge base?
  • If applicable, what engagement has there been with end-users to date with respect to the exploitation of the project outputs?

The ATI will make recommendations to the Department for Business and Trade (DBT). Based on the ATI’s recommendation, DBT decides on which projects proceed to the Full Stage Application. There is no funding in the Outline Stage, any funding will be awarded in the Full Stage Application.

If your project is successful, you will be invited by Innovate UK to apply to the next Full Stage Application stage of the competition via the Innovation Funding Service. To defer entry to the next full stage batch, please contact ATI via competitions@ati.org.uk to confirm you would like to defer entry. You must apply to one of the next two full stage competitions, or you will need to reapply to the Outline Stage.

If your Outline Stage application is not successful, you will be given the opportunity to discuss your feedback with the ATI should you wish to. Details of how this can be arranged will be provided in the feedback document. You will be able to submit the same project proposal up to a maximum of three times.

The outcome of your application and feedback on your Outline Stage application will be provided on the published notification date from the Aerospace Technology Institute.

Eligibility

This competition is open to any registered organisations in the UK looking to develop technology for the civil aerospace sector.

Lead organisation

To lead a project your organisation must:

  • be a UK registered business of any size for industrial research projects
  • be a UK registered business of any size, a research and technology organisation (RTO), research organisation or academic institution for capital infrastructure projects
  • carry out your aerospace research or technology development project work in the UK
  • intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
  • address the specific requirements of the Non-CO2 Technologies Roadmap
  • sign the ATI Framework Agreement
  • claim funding

More information on the different types of organisations can be found in our funding rules. Research Organisations cannot lead.

Project team

To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following UK-registered:

  • business of any size
  • academic institution
  • charity
  • not for profit
  • public sector organisation
  • research and technology organisation (RTO)

Your organisation must:

  • carry out its project work in the UK
  • intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
  • be invited to take part by the lead applicant
  • sign up to the Aerospace Technology Institute framework agreement

Non-funded partners

Your project can include partners that do not receive any of this competition’s funding, for example non-UK businesses. Their costs will not count towards the total eligible project costs but must be included your application.

Subcontractors

Subcontractors are allowed in this competition. Subcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK and you must select them through your usual procurement process.

You can use subcontractors from overseas but must make the case in your application as to why you could not use suppliers from the UK. Department for Business and Trade (DBT) will review this on a case-by-case basis.

You must provide a detailed rationale, evidence of the potential UK contractors you approached and the reasons why they were unable to work with you. We will not accept a cheaper cost as a sufficient reason to use an overseas subcontractor.

All subcontractor costs must be justified and appropriate to the total project costs.

Previous applications

You can use a previously submitted application to apply for this competition. If you are submitting a new application and are unsuccessful, you can only resubmit an updated application into one future competition that allows you to resubmit.

ATI will not award you funding if you have:

  • failed to exploit a previously funded project
  • an overdue independent accountant’s report
  • failed to comply with grant terms and conditions
  • received funding previously for the same project from the government
  • already developed technology via private funds

Multiple applications

When a business leads on an application it can collaborate in a further two applications.

If a business is not leading any application, it can collaborate in up to three applications.

An academic institution, charity, public sector organisation, research organisation or RTO can collaborate on any number of applications.

Exclusions

ATI will not fund projects that focus:

  • solely on defence, space or other industrial sectors, but we will recognise dual use technologies providing the primary application is in civil aerospace
  • on fundamental research, feasibility studies or experimental development
  • research topics that include no scope under the Non-CO2 Technologies Roadmap

ATI cannot fund projects that are:

  • dependent on export performance, for example giving a subsidy to a baker on the condition that it exports a certain quantity of bread to another country.
  • dependent on domestic inputs usage, for example giving a subsidy to a baker on the condition that it uses 50% UK flour in their product.

Funding Costs

Grant (awarded through Innovate UK in Stage two)

Funding

Our planning assumption is that grants totalling up to £17 million for the next 4 years (starting in 2024) will be allocated to successful projects. However, this is not a limit or target, and will depend on the number and the quality of applications received for all competition streams funded through the ATI Programme.

The maximum grant per project must be 60% or less of the total overall eligible costs of the project. Individual partners that are conducting commercial or economic activities as part of the project, which may include research organisations, can request grant funding of up to:

  • 70% if you are a small or micro organisation
  • 60% if you are a medium-sized organisation
  • 50% if you are a large organisation

For more information on company sizes, please refer to the company accounts guidance. This is a change from the EU definition unless you are applying under State aid.

Research participation

The UK-registered research organisations in your consortium undertaking non-economic activities can share up to 30% of the total project costs. If your consortium contains more than one research organisation, this maximum will be shared between them. Of that 30% you could get funding for your eligible project costs of up to:

  • 80% of full economic costs (FEC) if you are a Je-S registered institution such as an academic
  • 100% of your project costs if you are an RTO, charity, not for profit organisation, public sector organisation or research organisation

Industrial contribution fee

Applicants to this competition are required to pay an industrial contribution fee to the operating costs of the ATI. The industry contribution is fixed at 2.5% of the total grant per project. For more information on how the industrial contributions are calculated, please refer to the ATI Framework Agreement above.

Funding restrictions

Organisations that are in financial difficulty will not be awarded grant funds. Innovate UK will conduct financial viability and eligibility tests at the application stage.

Under current restrictions, this competition will not fund any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any Russian and Belarusian entity as lead, partner or subcontractor. This includes any goods or services originating from a Russian and Belarusian source.

Interested in applying for this competition?

Book an appointment to speak to one of our advisors to discuss your eligibility to apply for this Grant Funding opportunity.