Germany's new plant produces zero-emission jet fuel

Sustainable Production

13/10/2021

Recently, the world's first commercial plant to produce synthetic kerosene fuel, which was advertised as the future climate-friendly aviation fuel, opened in Germany.

A bottle of Atmosfair's synthetic kerosene fuel

The new plant, located in Werlte, near Germany's northwestern border with the Netherlands, will use water and electricity from four nearby wind farms to produce hydrogen. The hydrogen is then combined with carbon dioxide (CO2) to make crude oil, which is then refined into jet fuel. The plant in Werlte will draw a CO2 mix from a nearby biogas production facility, along with some CO2 drawn straight from the air. (Processes to suck CO2 from the air are also needed to meet the Paris Agreement's goals of keeping warming within 1.5 degrees Celsius)

When operating an aircraft, the combustion of this synthetic kerosene fuel only releases an amount of CO2 into the atmosphere equal to the amount previously obtained for the fuel production process, so the fuel is "carbon neutral" or net zero emissions.

However, the plant can only produce a very modest amount of synthetic fuel: 8 barrels per day, or about 336 gallons of jet fuel. It took three weeks for the plant to generate enough fuel to operate a single passenger jet. By comparison, the total fuel consumption of commercial airlines worldwide reached 95 billion gallons in 2019, before the pandemic hit the travel industry, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Minister of Environment Schulze acknowledged that Germany may not be the ideal place to produce large amounts of synthetic fuel, as the process requires solar energy and abundant sunshine. But the development of this technology "creates opportunities for German companies to export technology and build factories," Schulze said.

Atmosfair, the German non-profit group sponsoring the project, also said its main purpose with the plant is not to sell fuel, but to demonstrate that the process of producing synthetic fuels is feasible in terms of fuel. technology and economy, when the process is expanded and there is enough demand to buy synthetic fuel.

Ha Tran

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