A climate-friendly, synthetic fuel for aircraft will soon go into production in Germany. The kerosene produced will supposedly be free of carbon dioxide and therefore more environmentally friendly. In Emsland, the world's first production plant will produce so-called power-to-liquid aviation fuels. Supporters believe this will be a big oneContribute to environmentally friendly flyingcould.
Synthetic fuel without carbon dioxide emissions for aviation
When this synthetic kerosene is burned, only as much CO₂ is released into the atmosphere as the manufacturer previously used for its production, making it climate neutral. Aviation currently accounts for about 2.5% of global emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming. While other forms of transportation increasingly rely on electricity, the challenge of building large, battery-powered aircraft is enormous. Experts say so-called e-fuels can help solve the problem. This is done by replacing fossil fuels without major technical modifications to the aircraft. The plant in Werlte, near Germany's northwestern border with the Netherlands, will use water and electricity from four nearby wind farms to produce hydrogen. But the amount of fuel the plant will be able to produce starting early next year is modest: just eight barrels per day, or about 336 gallons of jet fuel. That would be enough to refuel a small passenger plane every three weeks.
Atmosfair, a German non-profit group behind the project, primarily wants to show that the process is technically and economically feasible. A synthetic fuel like this kerosene will also initially be significantly more expensive. Atmosfair won't reveal how much it will charge its first customer, German airline Lufthansa. In addition, authorities at national and European levels are setting quotas for the amount of e-fuel that airlines will have to use in the future. This will create demand and make it more attractive to invest in bigger and better assets. However, climate researchers warned that e-fuels are not a short-term solution to global emissions. It is also important that the carbon used to produce e-fuels is obtained directly from the atmosphere and not as a byproduct of burning fossil fuels.
