Vattenfall is a European energy company with approximately 20,000 employees. You would have to at least double the renewable electricity needed for kerosene-and-DAC to have enough to make synfuels. While it is clear that there is a huge reduction in carbon dioxide emissions when electrofuel is used for an aircraft (synthetic aviation fuel) compared to fossil fuel, there is currently no exact reduction percentage available. WebIn this study, five potential electrofuels are discussed with respect to the potential application as aviation fuels, being n-octane, methanol, methane, hydrogen and ammonia, and Here, we provide an in-depth review of alternative technologies for sustainable aviation revealed to date, which we classified into four main categories, namely i) biofuels, Try refreshing this page and updating them one It should also be noted that whilst the Fischer-Tropsch process has been certified by ASTM as a valid pathway for producing synthetic kerosene, as of 2022, the methanol pathway has not. Instead, they start with two main building blocks: hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The narrative around cheating students doesnt tell the whole story. In this study, five potential electrofuels are discussed with respect to the potential application as aviation fuels, being n-octane, methanol, methane, hydrogen and ammonia, and compared to conventional Jet A-1 fuel. It is possible that electrofuel production may produce an adverse climate effect compared to a scenario in which DAC is used to compensate for emissions from kerosene. [11], According to the eFuel Alliance, the perspective of the lack of efficiency of Electrofuels is misleading as what is critical for global energy transition is not the degree of efficiency of electricitys end usage, but rather how efficiently electricity can be produced from renewable energies, and then made usable. Thanks to the advanced technology, the feedstock for SAF is very varied, ranging from cooking oil, plant oil, municipal waste, waste gases and agricultural residues just to name a few. However Mr Murphy doesnt believe it would be a particularly good idea due to the large amounts of energy wasted in its production. The infographic below illustrates how the process converts renewable energy into green hydrogen, which is combined with carbon dioxide captured from heavy industry processes to produce net zero fuels. The primary targets are butanol, and biodiesel, but include other alcohols and carbon-containing gases such as methane and butane. While fats, oils, and greases are the basis of most commercially available SAFs today, the world doesnt eat enough french fries for used cooking oils to meet global jet fuel demand alone. reach out to us at Specifically interesting could be the combination of hydrogen with ammonia in the far future; however, the research is just at the beginning stage. Elevate your brand to the forefront of conversation around emerging technologies that are radically transforming business. Large energy and chemical companies with decades of experience in process engineering can easily out-compete startups here. Biofuels come from a range of biological sources; some are derived from waste like used cooking oils, agricultural residues, or landfill trash, while others can be made from crops grown specifically for fuel, from corn to palm trees to switchgrass. Biogenic sources, such as CO2 from waste, are also in use by several projects. If electrofuels do turn out to be beneficial, part III analyses the current state of the space, and future opportunities. WebIn this study, five potential electrofuels are discussed with respect to the potential application as aviation fuels, being n-octane, methanol, methane, hydrogen and ammonia, and Founded at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1899, MIT Technology Review is a world-renowned, independent media company whose insight, analysis, reviews, interviews and live events explain the newest technologies and their commercial, social and political impact. Infinium eSAF and Infinium eDiesel electrofuels can be used in todays planes, trains, ships and trucks as an immediate replacement to carbon intensive petroleum fuels with no costly engine modifications required. On balance of probability, we find it likely that electrofuels have a beneficial climate impact beyond using regular kerosene with DAC - however, if present, this benefit may be very limited. We have a responsibility for our environmental and social impacts. Thats frequently the case for biofuels made from palm oil, since growing that crop can decimate rainforests. Over the past year, several test flights powered by 100% SAFs have taken off. Image:Unsplash/_M_V_. This is a very large expansion to deliver decarbonisation of half of the energy supply for one mode of one economic sector. In the report, T&E claims that with the correct source of CO2 captured from air, such fuels can be close to near zero emissions and carbon circular. Electrofuels are drop-in ready meaning that it is easier to deploy than other green solutions. Producing green hydrogen (electrolysis), Producing CO2 - using Direct Air Capture (DAC). Infinium electrofuels can be used directly in existing engine designs, enabling transportation providers to reduce harmful emissions and meet their carbon reduction goals. From event sponsorships to custom content to visually arresting video storytelling, advertising with MIT Technology Review creates opportunities for your brand to resonate with an unmatched audience of technology and business elite. A primary source of funding for research on liquid electrofuels for transportation was the Electrofuels Program of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), headed by Eric Toone. [citation needed]. Firstly, the synthesis process of the electrofuel is described with its technological paths, its energy efficiency and the maturity or research need of the production. Finally, a preliminary comparative evaluation matrix is developed. Without these cookies, we cannot guarantee that the website is functioning properly. With The best KPI to evaluate this is the CO2 saved per MWh of renewable electricity. Despite being well capitalised, the energy requirements of its processes mean that it is likely to significantly miss its cost milestones for production. While both can come from a variety of sources, the most climate-friendly way to make e-fuels starts with hydrogen thats been generated by splitting water into its constituent elements using renewable electricity, plus carbon dioxide thats been pulled out of the atmosphere through direct air capture. This is unlikely to change, and thus there are serious questions about how feasible it is for startups to out-compete existing energy & process engineering companies as integrators. a PSR (Perfectly Stirred Reactor) followed by a PFR (Plug Flow Reactor). However, there are logistical and sustainability barriers. Otherwise, they risk becoming a cure thats worse than the disease., I have suddenly switched my views on whether these things are going to be more intelligent than us.. This is simply due to the limited availability of sustainable biomass, which will become increasingly constrained as biomass becomes a major feedstock for chemicals, plastics, and BECCS. Its worth noting that historically, comparable chemical plants (such as coal liquefaction plants) typically require multi-billion capital investments in order to produce fuels at any meaningful scale (in the order of thousands of barrels per day). Not only does power consumption dominate the levelised cost, but more than half of the upfront capital typically goes towards hydrogen electrolysers. How trash, cooking oil, and green electricity could power your future flights. Alternative fuels have the same basic chemical makeup as fossil fuels; the difference is that SAFs are derived from renewable sources. Todays aircrafts are certified to fly with a maximum of 50% SAF, of which electrofuel is an example, and the remainder with traditional aviation fuel. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. St1 targets large scale fossil-free aviation fuel production on the Swedish west coast. It is well accepted that both biofuels and e-fuels will play a major role in future SAF production. [6], Towards the end of 2020, Porsche announced its investment in electrofuels, including the Haru Oni project in Chile, creating synthetic methanol from wind power. True innovators that can commercialise new and novel processes have the potential to capture a significant share of the SAF market. for example: Further discussion of these tradeoffs can be found in Appendix B. Johnny Wood has been a journalist for over 15 years working in different parts of the world Asia, Europe and Middle East. Meanwhile, we do not expect hydrogen-powered aircraft to be operational at scale by 2040. Three important aspects are illuminated. If you ended up on this page doing normal allowed operations, please contact our support at They are electricity-based because the hydrogen is obtained with electricity through the electrolysis of water. Battery electric flight may displace some very short, low volume flights, but 81% of emissions from aviation occur from medium and long haul flight. [13] Ren-Gas has several synthetic methane production projects in Tampere, Lahti, Kotka, Mikkeli and Pori in Finland. DOAJ 2023 default by all rights reserved unless otherwise specified. These alternatives, often called sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs), are made from a wide range of sources and can largely be used by existing planes. The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E)group was set up in the US under the Obama administration to research the potential of electrofuels. However, it should be clear that there are limits to what can be achieved through electrofuels. This in turn helps us to keep our website up to date and for you as a customer to make the experience smoother and easier to use. Secondly, the physico-chemical properties are compared with respect to specific energy, energy density, as well as those properties relevant to the combustion of the fuels, i.e., autoignition delay time, adiabatic flame temperature, laminar flame speed and extinction strain rate. Thats where SAFs could help. Sign up to watch our free industry webinars. A new report says electrofuels are the only viable option to solving the aviation industrys climate problem. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. Synthetic fuels (or electrofuels) are often touted as the ultimate medium-term solution to decarbonising aviation. The important thing to note here is that both processes require Direct Air Capture (see our later section for reasons why other CO2 sources for synfuels are not scalable or sustainable). The synthetic SAF, also known as electrofuel will be produced from fossil free electricity and recovered carbon dioxide using the so called Alcohol to Jet technology developed by LanzaTech and the U.S Department of Energys Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). In the past, however, syngas was produced from a fossil fuel source, such as the gasification of coal. In this report, we focus purely on the investment opportunities and challenges of e-fuels. Discover special offers, top stories, Cutting the emissions in air travel is proving particularly difficult. Licensing is already common in the field of catalysts. They could be the key to helping this sector meet its climate target: net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. It contains specifically those fields for the different proposed electrofuels where special challenges and problematic points are seen that need more research for potential application. [10] It was also observing electrofuel usage in cars emits two significant greenhouse gases beyond CO2 captured for the production: methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O); local air pollution was still a concern, and it was five times less efficient than direct electrification. The goal is that a new production facility will produce up to 50,000 tonnes of synthetic SAF annually, provided that an investment decision is made at a later stage. Of the 100 million litres of SAF produced in 2021, over 99% was biofuel. Its worth noting that while SAFs can approach net-zero carbon dioxide emissions, burning the fuels still produces other types of pollution, including other greenhouse gases and particulate matter. Advancements may arise from replacing individual process steps (eg electrochemical reduction of CO2 to CO/syngas, which is already being commercialised by Topsoe and Sunfire), or by the direct conversion of CO2 to fuels in one step. Many aviation net-zero plans, like the one published by the International Air Transport Association, assume that SAFs will make up the majority of the industrys climate progress in the coming decades. the only viable option to solving the aviation industrys climate problem. While sales of emissions-free electric vehicles are increasing, decarbonizing hard-to-electrify sectors like shipping, trucking and aviation remains a challenge. Although the Covid crisis has drastically reduced air transport, the aviation industry intends to resume the massive growth planned for the sector. The company's suite of products include sustainable aviation fuel, This is because. British Gas drives towards electric vehicles, Foreign investment in an uncertain future. The other important feature of liquid fuels is that they are burned through the course of the flight, therefore the aircraft becomes lighter as the flight goes on and can travel a further distance.. A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda. Meet the teachers who think generative AI could actually make learning better. Infinium Electrofuels are classified as ultra-low carbon fuels, meaning usage results in a significant reduction in net carbon dioxide emissions when compared to petroleum-based fuels. Therefore the last refining step of this pathway (turning methanol to distillate/kerosene) is the least proven. See Appendix A for a market map of the electrofuel space. Some examples of individual process step improvements could be: Many researchers expect that the next frontier in e-fuels will arise from developments in electrocatalysis, which have accelerated in the past few years. Piping large quantities of CO2 to these locations would require significant infrastructure investments. Additionally, in the coming decades, there will be a significant increase in the utilisation of hydrogen, CO2, and renewable energy across multiple industries. Therefore, the part of the Fischer-Tropsch route least proven at scale is the Reverse Water Gas Shift (RWGS) reaction, which converts the CO2 (carbon dioxide) source into CO (carbon monoxide) in the form of syngas, which can then be used for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. You can change your settings at any time. WebAviation fuels 13 1. Three important aspects are illuminated. Biogenic sources of CO2 cannot scale to large production volumes of electrofuels for the same reason (sustainable biomass availability) that hinders biofuels scalability. RefuelEU Aviation, a deal finalized in April, requires that fuel supply at EU airports include 2% SAFs by 2025 and 70% by 2050. A joint study has shown promising conditions for the project, and all partner companies now want to carry out in-depth analyses. This allows us to measure how effective our ads on other websites are. Results show that the physical and combustion properties significantly differ from jet fuel, except for n-octane. This is the primary reason that electrofuels currently cost at least 3x the price of conventional kerosene, and usually more. Like conventional jet fuel, alternative fuels produce carbon dioxide and other emissions when theyre burned for energy in planes. Improved research on contrails and other areas will soon enable us to paint a better picture of the climate impact of electrofuels. This briefing is divided into three parts: Part II - Electrofuels within the wider energy system, Part III - Processes, challenges, and innovations. However, whilst biokerosene production will increase in the future, capacity is limited. The production of oil for kerosene generates emissions, predominantly from methane leaks. This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience. Efficiency gains from integrating processes (for example, recycling waste heat from Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and using it for other process steps) are obvious improvements and not a sufficient USP. Now lets take a look at how carbon/CO2 moves around when we make electrofuels vs when we make kerosene. The aviation and freight sectors require fuels with high energy density, likely low-carbon liquid fuels. With this context in mind, where do interesting startup investment opportunities lie? With the growth of aviation traffic and the demand for emission reduction, alternative fuels like the so-called electrofuels could comprise a sustainable solution. Electrofuel is categorized as a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) since the only inputs to the process of making electrofuel are fossil free electricity, water and recycled carbon dioxide (in contrast to virgin fossil feedstock). [12], In September 2022, Finnish company Q Power selled to P2X Solutions a synthetic methane production unit to be delivered in 2024 in Harjavalta, Finland, next to its 20 MW green hydrogen production plant. The fuels and chemicals Infinium produce have the same specifications as todays jet fuels or diesels for long-haul and marine transportation, says Infinium CEO Robert Schuetzle. For the other fuels, more issues need further research to allow the application as electrofuels in aviation. Thirdly, a turbine configuration is investigated at a constant operating point to further analyze the drop-in potential of electrofuels in aircraft engines. It examines the emission reduction potential of synthetic fuels or electrofuels as a medium-term solution to decarbonize aviation. There are two types of SAF. Photos used throughout the site by David Jorre, Jean-Philippe Delberghe, JJ Ying, Luca Bravo, Brandi Redd, & Christian Perner from Unsplash. Green fuels, new technology and demand reduction can put us on a path to cleaner flying. Established thermochemical pathways are yet to be operated at scale using intermittent electricity inputs. Startups that integrate existing processes with incremental improvements and low defensibility will likely be out-competed by large energy companies. How India's tiger protection project saved trees and 1 million tonnes of carbon emissions, Finland is on track to meet some of the world's most ambitious carbon neutrality targets. It also has a specific target for e-fuels thats aimed at boosting their production. For more than 100 years we have electrified industries, supplied energy to people's homes and modernised our way of living through innovation and cooperation. The Royal Society confirms that further research is needed here to evaluate the overall lifecycle climate benefit of synthetic fuels. These cookies do not collect information that can be associated with you as an individual and are completely anonymous. Electrofuels also has significant potential in altering the renewable energy landscape, as electrofuels allows renewables from all sources to be stored conveniently as a liquid fuel. The report focuses on synthetic fuels, namely electrofuels, which will be needed to close the gap. Provided strict sustainability criteria are observed electrofuels could contribute to lowering aviation emissions. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Examples of projects funded under this program include OPX Biotechnologies biodiesel effort led by Michael Lynch[3] and Derek Lovleys work on microbial electrosynthesis at the University of Massachusetts Amherst,[4] which reportedly produced the first liquid electrofuel using CO2 as the feedstock. Due to this change if you are seeing this message for the first time please make sure you reset your password using the Forgot your password Link. Well consider two scenarios: #2 - Making kerosene, and using Direct Air Capture to capture the CO2 emitted. When full production is up and running it could provide SAS with up to 25% of its global demand for sustainable aviation fuel in the 2030s. The raw materials planned to be used are fossil free electricity from the Swedish electricity grid and carbon dioxide collected from Vattenfalls combined heat and power plant in Uppsala, where approximately 200,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide can be recovered per year. Therefore, smart ways to leverage co-production, storage, or arbitrage of hydrogen within wider systems could have a considerable effect on the levelised cost of e-fuel production. It is often the case that the aviation industry is evaluated in isolation, and thus, electrofuels emerge as the obvious solution. For a Fischer-Tropsch pathway using high-temperature electrolysis, expected efficiencies would be in the order of: Electrofuels will not be cost competitive with conventional kerosene by 2030, and this will likely be the case for many years beyond. WebElectrofuels should be given further consideration for sectors where no such alternatives exist, in particular in the aviation sector. Batteries could power planes, but weight will limit how far they fly. 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[email protected]. Today, the process of making alternative fuels can be linked to carbon dioxide emissions itself, either because of the energy required to make them or because they affect ecosystems in ways that emit carbon. In addition to being an accomplished features writer, he has edited several prestigious lifestyle magazines and corporate publications. But experts say that to reach its 2050 target, aviation will largely need to rely on them. The warming effects of contrails in general, The reduction in contrails possible form using electrofuels (likely significant), The reduction in aromatics content possible in existing kerosene refineries, The embodied emissions incurred in producing kerosene in future oil markets, Required energy (and associated renewables opportunity cost) of CO2 sequestration, Advances in high-temperature (SOEC) electrolysers, such as reducing their degradation, improving manufacturing costs, and developing generation of pressurised hydrogen, Advances in catalysts, not only with higher, Advances in the Reverse-Water-Gas-Shift (RWGS) reaction, which remains at a lower TRL than the rest of the Fischer-Tropsch pathway, The ability to ramp-up and ramp-down in minutes rather than hours, A sufficiently low CapEx/OpEx ratio to be economically competitive running at reduced capacity factor. In order to keep track of which pages are most visited on our website and to be able to offer relevant content for you as a customer, these feature cookies are needed. California-based Infinium is developing multiple plants in Texas to produce electrofuels. A new fuel type could be the only solution to the aviation industrys climate problem but turning to electrofuels could result in a price hike for customers, says the Transport and Environment group. Production https://group.vattenfall.com/press-and-media/newsroom TheRaf errmsgstransl rev 2023-05-15 17:00. Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses. The next step is to combine it with CO2 and that gives you a new hydrocarbon which has properties that are equivalent to, or almost exactly the same, as kerosene today., Ankit Mathur, head of power at market analyst GlobalData, said: Electrofuel is a carbon-neutral source of energy using electricity generally renewable solar energy to convert carbon dioxide emissions into fuels and other useful products., Talking about its green energy potential, he added: Electrofuel production doesnt require large swaths of land, nor does it pollute the environment, making it a promising source of alternative energy.. [2] ARPA-E, created in 2009 under President Obamas Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, is the Department of Energys (DOE) attempt to duplicate the effectiveness of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, DARPA. In this analysis, we will not only examine the potential impact of electrofuels within the aviation industry, but also the (potentially adverse) consequences of deploying them in the wider energy system. said only Germany focuses on developing near zero-carbon electrofuels for aviation. The FAQ of the eFuel Alliance (You have to go to this question for the source: How efficient is the use of eFuels compared to direct electricity? The facility is planned to be on a site adjacent to the Forsmark nuclear power plant since there is a grid connection with sufficient capacity to get fossil free electricity from the Swedish electricity mix. The replacement fuel works by storing electrical energy from renewable sources within the chemical bonds of a liquid or gas. In an ideal world, the process of making the alternative fuels would suck down so much carbon that when the fuel is burned, the carbon dioxide emissions would be essentially canceled out. Microsoft signs cloud computing infrastructure deal with CoreWeave, Accenture acquires Australian SAP digital design firm Bourne Digital, Microsoft calls UK CMA outlier for blocking $68.7bn acquisition of Activision, Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), Fujitsu, Microsoft join forces to drive sustainability transformation, Nvidia, SoftBank partner on generative AI and 5G/6G applications platform. We see the possibility that the same advance-market-commitment playbook used by Frontier for carbon removal could be replicated in the e-fuel space. Global aviation More information can be found in our cookie policy and personal data policy. Planes today mostly burn jet fuel, also called kerosenea fossil fuel with a mix of carbon-containing molecules. We therefore do not believe that hydrogen aircraft will comprise a significant proportion of flights in 2040. It originally claimed that, if successful, its electrofuels programme would create liquid transportation fuels that are cost-competitive with traditional gasoline-based fuels and ten-times more efficient than existing biofuels. They are manufactured using captured carbon dioxide or carbon Results show that the physical and combustion properties significantly differ from jet fuel, except for n-octane. Fuels produced from point sources of CO2 are less sustainable than those made with CO2 from DAC. This is a BETA experience. If this turns out to be positive, then the area may be an investment case for World Fund. Anyone can join as an IGEM Member to gain The model only includes a limited number of technologies Biofuels use carbon from plants and organic matter, whilst electrofuels (e-fuels) aim to use CO2 from a non-biogenic source, such as Direct Air Capture (DAC). Heres everything you need to know about the future of jet fuel and the climate. On track for net zero electrofuels could offer a carbon-neutral alternative to diesel and gasoline. If you continue to get this message, Electrofuels are understood as those that use renewable energy for fuel synthesis and that are carbon-neutral with respect to greenhouse gas emission. Then when electrofuel is combusted by aircraft engines, the harnessed carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere after being utilized a second time. WebPart I: Electrofuels for aviation If we draw a box around the aviation industry and examine how to decarbonise it, there is only one sensible answer: drop-in fuels. So theres a lot of progress needed to supply alternative fuels that are actually helpful for the climate. In contrast, using CO2 from point sources only creates CO2 savings if the CO2 would not have otherwise been captured. Thus, the potential for technology transfer to the wider chemicals industry is high. There are also broader technology providers who do not focus purely on electrofuels, such as DAC companies or conventional low-temperature hydrogen electrolyser providers. WebA staged combustor fuelled by ethylene with monomethylamine addition is modelled by two homogeneous reactors in sequence, i.e. However, the market for synthetic fuels will nonetheless be made by policy-mandated blending of SAF into fuels. [1]:913. As of 2014[update], prompted by the fracking boom, ARPA-E's focus has moved from electrical feedstocks to natural-gas based feedstocks, and thus away from electrofuels. Synthetic electrofuels 14 1.1 Efuel production 15 1.2 Future developments 18 1.2.1 Scaling down Fischer Tropsch 18 1.2.2 Electrolysis 18 1.2.3 Bacterial conversion 18 1.2.4 Solar to fuels 18 1.2.5 New efuels 19 1.3 Research challenges 21 1.4 Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) 21 1.5 Timelines 21 2. Not all SAFs are created equal, says Matteo Mirolo, aviation policy manager at the nonprofit group Transport & Environment. This is how it has done it, Bill Gates shares 5 things he wishes he had heard at his graduation, is affecting economies, industries and global issues, with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale.