Unreasonable Fellows

James Hygate

Founder & CEO at Green Fuels

James is an Unreasonable Fellow. James has participated in 3 programs, including Unreasonable Wellbeing 2024.
In 1998 having just graduated with a Masters in Environmental Assessment and Management, James started the Environmental Solutions Company, providing environmental contracting services within the South West. He then set-up Waste Exchange UK in 1999, the UK’s first online waste exchange service. In 2003 he could see an emerging biofuels industry developing in the USA so founded Green Fuels Ltd. with the aim to bring sustainable biodiesel to the UK. Through organic growth the company achieved an annual turnover of over £1.5M within its first 2 years of trading. 
 
Since then Green Fuels has won numerous awards and in 2013 was granted a Royal Warrant by HRH the Prince of Wales for its ongoing supply of sustainable biofuel to the Royal Family. 
 
Today the company has commercially operating bio-refineries on every continent bar Antarctica, producing in excess of 1 million litres of sustainable biofuel every day. To date the production has offset around 5m tonnes of carbon.
 
James has direct involvement with many world firsts for biofuel usage including the first 100% biofuel flight, Biojet 1, the 100% biodiesel train, the Royal Train, and the first 100% biodiesel racing car, Top Gear, and many other high-profile projects such as with Jaguar Land Rover exploring the use of biodiesel in their current generation diesel engines. 
 
James has started several overseas businesses and has established representatives across the globe. He is the Royal Warrant holder for Green Fuels and is internationally recognised in the biofuels industry as a thought leader. 
 
In 2013 he founded Green Fuels Research (GFR) which holds proprietary technology for the production of biofuel (Patented) and also in aviation biofuels (Patented). Currently the company is developing novel routes for the production of fuel / energy from various wastes along with scaling its waste to jet process.
 
In 2015 James won Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2015 New Energy & Cleantech Awards in recognition of these achievements.
 
In 2022 James founded Firefly Green Fuels, which exists to commercialize it's Firefly innovation which converts sewage sludge into Sustainable Aviation Fuel.
LinkedIn Twitter Facebook