The need for carbon-neutral fuels is growing
Over the last few decades, the aviation industry has been pulling out all the stops to find ways to reduce its so-called carbon footprint . Initiatives have included carbon offsetting through planting trees or investing in renewable energy sources in order to compensate for the large amounts of CO2 emitted by aircraft on a daily basis.
Other proposals included experimenting with more environmentally friendly and sustainable fuel sources including hydrogen, or eliminating the need to use fossil fuels altogether with pure electrical engines.
The aviation industry is looking for ways to decarbonize as much as possible like Airbus Hydrogen Pod concept aircraft.
Could Carbon Dioxide Fuel Jets? New Study Says Yes
Instead of buying carbon credits, airlines could become carbon neutral simply by using a fuel created from the greenhouse gas.
Wired, scientists at Oxford University have reverse engineered jet fuel from carbon dioxide. The breakthrough has yet to be replicated outside of the lab and would need to be dramatically scaled up in order to be viable for fueling air travel.
A team at Oxford University in the United Kingdom has developed an experimental process using an iron-based chemical reaction that transforms C02 a greenhouse gas in the exhaust of all gas-burning engines into jet fuel.
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The aviation industry has been looking for ways to reduce its global carbon footprint for the past decade, such as purchasing so-called carbon offsets like tree-planting projects or wind farms to make up for the carbon dioxide spewed out by high-flying jets. At the same time, airports in San Francisco, Chicago, and Los Angeles, along with a dozen in Europe, are fueling planes with greener alternative fuels to help reach carbon-reduction goals.
Now a team at Oxford University in the United Kingdom has come up with an experimental process that might be able to turn carbon dioxide a greenhouse gas emitted by all gas-burning engines into jet fuel. If successful, the process, which uses an iron-based chemical reaction, could result in “net zero” emissions from airplanes.