Making Aircraft Fuel From Sunlight and Air
upstart writes:
Making Aircraft Fuel From Sunlight and Air:
Carbon-neutral fuels are crucial for making aviation and maritime transport sustainable. The plant developed in Zurich can be used to produce synthetic liquid fuels that release as much CO2 during their combustion as was previously extracted from the air for their production. CO2 and water are extracted directly from ambient air and split using solar energy. This process yields syngas, a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, which is then processed into kerosene, methanol, or other hydrocarbons.
[...] Analyses of the entire process show that the fuel would cost 1.20 to 2 euros per litre if it were produced on an industrial scale. Desert regions with high solar resources are particularly suitable as production sites. "Unlike with biofuels, whose potential is limited due to the scarcity of agricultural land, this technology enables us to meet global demand for jet fuel by using less than one percent of the world's arid land and would not compete with the production of food or livestock feed," explains Johan Lilliestam, a research group leader at the IASS and professor of energy policy at the University of Potsdam. If the materials used to build the production facilities, such as glass and steel, are manufactured using renewable energy and carbon-neutral methods, emissions can be further reduced to close to zero.
Journal Reference:
Remo Schappi, David Rutz, Fabian Dahler, et al. Drop-in Fuels from Sunlight and Air, Nature (DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-04174-y)
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