Produced from hydrogen and carbon dioxide, the aim is to take a bite out of aviation’s ecological footprint. The one thing you can’t put your finger on about synthetic kerosene – which, according to the announcement, will be produced in Germany for the first time in the world – is that it’s cheap.
The price of the fuel produced in the new plant in Werlte will initially be much higher than that of conventional kerosene. Although it is not known how much the first customer, Lufthansa, will pay for the synthetic kerosene, the CEO of Atmosfair, the company that owns the plant, says that €5 per litre is a price that can be achieved by 2030: that alone is many times the current price of conventional kerosene. The question is who will pay the extra, and according to Dorothea von Boxberg, head of Lufthansa Cargo, everyone involved in aviation: the end consumer, the intermediary companies, as well as the companies in the aviation industry, reports ABC News.
In other words, prices are expected to rise, but why is it worth it, and what makes kerosene environmentally friendly in the first place? Aviation currently accounts for 2.5 percent of global carbon emissions, and while other modes of transport and travel are increasingly electrified, aviation is still only a trial run. Examples include the growing number of passenger aircraft being developed, Rolls-Royce’s electric plane which spent a quarter of an hour in the air, and the world’s largest electric plane, a converted Cessna Grand Caravan 208, which flew for half an hour on an electric motor. However, these are small machines and, as it turns out, they cannot spend much time in the air.
Therefore, another way to reduce carbon emissions is the emergence of different e-fuels, which work basically like conventional kerosene and therefore do not require any modification of the machinery. The only difference is in production: synthetic kerosene is expected to eventually remove as much CO2 from the atmosphere as it burns, so the final bill will be break-even in this respect.
The plant in Werlte produces crude oil from hydrogen and carbon dioxide, which can then be refined into kerosene, but only part of the CO2 is extracted from the atmosphere, the rest is obtained from a nearby biogas plant. The aim, however, is to get all the CO2 needed from the atmosphere. At present, the capacity is not very muscular: only 336 gallons are produced per day – for comparison, in 2019 (before the epidemic) commercial aviation burned 95 billion gallons of kerosene. But the point, according to the non-profit Atmosfair, is to prove the feasibility of the technology, and over time prices will converge with conventional kerosene for two main reasons: firstly, carbon taxes will be added to kerosene, and secondly, cheaper solar power could reduce the cost of production.
The aviation industry is also trying to get rid of its huge carbon footprint: for example, Boob Supersonic airline plans to run its fleet on 100 per cent alternative fuel, while the International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced this week that it aims to achieve zero emissions by 2050.
Source: ABC News
Recent article
Electric airplane News & Articles
The Hungarian solar-powered airplane plan has hit the world press
Electric airplane News & Articles
NASA’s first electric aircraft to take off soon
Drones News & Articles
An Australian drone can plant 40,000 trees in a day
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
Airbus and ITA Airways jointly develop Italian urban air transport
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
Airbus and ITA Airways jointly develop Italian urban air transport
Air taxi News & Articles
The first air taxi airport opens in Britain
Electric airplane News & Articles
Slovenian Pipistrel becomes part of Textron’s electric aviation business
Additional aircraft News & Articles
Another aircraft: the air yacht
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
Testing Volocopter’s eVTOL
News & Articles Propulsion-Fuel
A solar-powered device on Mars could make rocket fuel from waste water
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
Suzuki promises to launch flying taxis by 2025
Drones News & Articles
Amazon drone delivery is far from taking off
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
CycloTech and Yamato reveal innovative cargo eVTOLconcept with CycloRotors
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
EHang Receives Pre-Order for 100 Units of EH216 AAVs from Indonesian Aviation Company Prestige Aviation
Drones News & Articles
A Hungarian company is developing an agricultural drone with a French partner
Additional aircraft News & Articles
A futuristic, electric rival to the rocket backpack is already in operation
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
FedEx puts drones to work
Additional aircraft News & Articles
British paramedics to start testing rocket backpack rescue in the summer
Air taxi News & Articles
Air Greenland acquires VX4 Air Greenlands from
Air taxi News & Articles
Japanese flying taxis now almost have a timetable
Flying Cars News & Articles
French startup to launch hydrogen-powered flying race car
Drones News & Articles
The silent spy drone designed for the Pentagon is ready
Flying Cars News & Articles
Bruno Senna joins Airspeeder as pilot and ambassador
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
EHang Receives Pre-order for 60 Units of Passenger-grade AAVs from AEROTREE, Malaysia’s Leading Aviation Company, under Strategic Partnership
Additional aircraft News & Articles
NASA may launch inflatable stingray drones to Venus
Drones News & Articles
The Gambit combat drone opens a new era in air warfare
Drones News & Articles
Hydraulic drone that will have a much longer range than its electric counterpart
News & Articles Propulsion-Fuel
Swiss buys solar-powered sustainable kerosene
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
Minor accident at Joby Aviation
News & Articles Propulsion-Fuel
Airbus tests hydrogen propulsion on its A380 prototype
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
CAAC Formally Adopts Special Conditions for EH216-S AAV Type Certification
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
A Chinese company has shown how their eVTOL can cope with the most critical part of flying
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
World’s first electric air taxis to be launched in Japan
News & Articles Propulsion-Fuel
Hungarian engineers develop unique parallel hybrid-electric aircraft propulsion system
Air taxi News & Articles
Startup Natilus is set to revolutionise air freight transport
Drones News & Articles
Drones go on duty at the giant Singapore seaport
News & Articles Points of interest
Hydrogen-powered, hypersonic aircraft
Flying Cars News & Articles
Why don’t we use flying cars ?
Additional aircraft News & Articles
MIT’s miniature robots fly using artificial muscles
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
eVTOLs could revolutionise air rescue
More articles you may be interested in...
Drones News & Articles
Hungarian drone regulation
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
EHang 216 and Falcon AAVs Perform Airport Transport and Parcel Delivery Trial Flights for EU GOF 2.0 Project in Estonia
Flying Cars News & Articles
Why don’t we use flying cars ?
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
Czech hybrid aircraft takes off for the first time
Drones News & Articles
In Ghana, drones carry vaccines
Drones News & Articles
Airbus manufactured a drone courier
Drones News & Articles
Drones that can be produced on site
Drones News & Articles
The obligations of drone-related supply chain actors in Europe
Flying Cars News & Articles
Swedish model: full production capacity of the first commercially available flying car by 2022
News & Articles Points of interest
Rocket engine preparing a landing site for itself
News & Articles Points of interest
Yet the engine that could go very far is not working
Air taxi News & Articles
Airbus also gets into city transport
Drones News & Articles
Small drone hovering in the air
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
eVTOLs could revolutionise air rescue
News & Articles Points of interest
China is building a “winged rocket” that could fly from New York to Beijing in 1 hour
Electric airplane News & Articles
The electric airliner could take off within days
Drones News & Articles
Developing drones
Flying Cars News & Articles
Flying car available
Flying Cars News & Articles
Ambulance flying car in New York
Electric airplane News & Articles
Airplane with purely electric propulsion ?
Flying Cars News & Articles
Who develops flying cars ?
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
EHang and Spanish National Police Collaborate to Explore AAV Use Cases in Emergency and Security Missions
Additional aircraft News & Articles
A new flying engine is being built for urban transport
Flying Cars News & Articles
For 2021-2022, customers can receive their flying car
Flying Cars News & Articles
The first flying cars in the US were given the green light
Flying Cars News & Articles
Airspeeder flying racing car
Drones News & Articles
Satellite carrying drone
Electric airplane News & Articles
Brazilian e-flight manufacturer may go public, surprising analysts
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
Volocopter presents a longer-range air taxi
Flying Cars News & Articles
Flying cars? Still far from reality