US Air Force gives $65m to develop environmentally friendly jet fuel from corn
The United States wants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions during air travel to zero by 2050. To do so, the Air Force has signed a contract with a young New York-based firm, Air Company.
Here's What We Know
The New York-based start-up has developed a technological process to convert carbon dioxide into fuel alcohols and paraffin. You can read a lot of text about the technology in a white paper. TheCO2 itself is not extracted from the atmosphere but is instead extracted from ethanol production. But the company gets the ethanol from corn during its processing.
In addition, the startup also needs hydrogen. It is produced by electrolyzing water using renewable energy sources, including solar energy. During the electrolysis process, the startup extracts hydrogen and sends it to a reactor to react withCO2. The oxygen is released into the atmosphere at the same time.
The end products of the interaction are paraffin, water, methanol and ethanol. Their company is not only used to produce aviation fuel. Air Company manages to produce vodka, perfume and disinfectants.
The New York-based start-up is not yet capable of producing fuels on a scale that would have an impact on global carbon dioxide levels. But if other companies join it, and all fuel-dependent industries switch to green fuels, emissions would be reduced by 10%.
Another problem for Air Company is regulatory bans on the use of clean formulations of synthetic carbon-neutral fuels as aviation fuel. Under current regulations, the proportion of synthetic fuel must be no more than 50%.
Despite the restriction, last year the US Air Force tested a drone that was fuelled exclusively with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The tests were successful, and this is probably the reason why the contract between Air Company and the US Air Force was signed.
The deal amounted to $65 million. The funds will be used to improve the technology for synthesizing carbon-pure aviation fuel from carbon dioxide. Commercial deliveries will begin in 2024. Air Company has received orders from Virgin Atlantic and Boom.
Source: TechSpot
