Air Company: This firm is channeling air to make aviation fuel

New York-based Air Company has claimed that it has developed the first carbon-neutral jet fuel derived from captured carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Air Company’s sustainable aviation fuel, which was recently tested by the US Air Force can be a game-changer that could ultimately help the airline industry hit its goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, US media reports said. Currently, the airline industry accounts for about 3% of total global carbon emissions each year, and mostly uses fossil-based fuels that require various forms of environmental disruption to produce.

Often Aviation industry is held responsible for emitting carbon in huge amounts but there is no alternative to jet engines and the resultant pollution from them, which eventually pushes the aviation industry to rely on traditional fuel methods. Thoughaviation represents only 2-3% of global CO2 emissions, it is one of the hardest industries to decarbonise.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Also Read |COP27: Countries might water down commitment to 1.5C temperature issue, says report

Alternative options to fossil fuel like electric and hydrogen power work for cars and bikes, but weight and energy density issues make them difficult to adapt for aircraft. While the aviation industry claims that they areonly responsible for 2% of world carbon emissions, there are reports that this number can rise to 6% by 2050. This is due to the prediction that the number of flights will triple in the coming future, with automobile emissions also dropping as more and more people will shift to electric vehicles.

Currently, the most practical option for reducing aircraft carbon emissions is Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). SAF can be produced from a variety of sustainable resources like, forestry and agricultural waste, used cooking oil, carbon captured from the air, and green hydrogen. Unfortunately, SAF costs about eight times more than petroleum-based aviation fuel.

Highlighting the importance of SAF, CEO and Co-Founder of Air Company, Gregory Constantine said, "Sustainable aviation fuel is an alternative to using fossil fuel. But most SAF is only a slight improvement. If it is based on cooking oil, it is slightly lower in carbon production—but it is also using agriculture feedstocks that could be used to feed people.”

Adding further, Constantine mentioned, “we take pure streams of CO2 from ethanol plants. We go there because they are such a heavy emission source.” The plants turn corn into ethanol, an alternative fuel used in nearly 98% of U.S. gasoline. So, the CO2 is plentiful and pure, and would just escape into the atmosphere if Air Company did not capture it.

This can be a game-changer for the aviation industry and can help the industry in achieving its sustainability goal. Though the company has tobring down the cost of its fuel, which is currently more expensive than traditional jet fuels to make this a more practical alternative option to petroleum-based fuel.

Denying the speculation that this new fuel might increase the cost of airlines for the passengers, Air Company said that “consumers will not feel the impact of this shift,” and added that lowering the cost will be achieved in part “through an array of government incentives made available to fuel producers generating sustainable alternatives.”

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.