LONDON – Air Company has announced that they have developed the first-ever Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) made out of carbon dioxide (CO2).
The move to SAF
Air Company, mostly known for its beverage productions, has taken up a new challenge. That challenge is creating SAF for planes. The only big difference between them and any other SAF producer such as Neste is that Air Company is making their SAF out of captured CO2.
These one-of-a-kind types of companies who are making SAF out of capturing one abundant resource, while not emitting said resource by harming our planet is, to say the least, an absolute saviour to our planet.
Not only is the demand high, but they have also already gained support from airlines such as JetBlue and Virgin Atlantic, airplane manufacturer Boom Supersonic, and even partnered up with the United States Air Force which has kicked off their AIRMADE SAF partnership with the completion of their first unmanned flight using their 100% unblended CO2-derived jet fuel.
Projects like these not only show the excitement and demand from many interested parties, but it also shows the technological advancement and the strength behind the company’s foundation, operations, and further potential. Once proven useful, its technology will be applied worldwide with significant future implications.
Since aviation represents about 2-3% of the total CO2 emissions on a global, yearly scale, and is usually considered a “hard to decarbonize” industry, Air Company is trying to mitigate that problem in a “meaningful” way by enabling a circular process that has the “potential to address over one billion metric tons of CO2”, according to PR Newswire.
Air Company statement
For the ones who are interested, Air Company has released a white paper in the journal ACS Energy Letters, which is free for everyone to read.
“Our goal as an organization has always been to expand into industries where our technology will have the largest impact and the most CO2 reduction,” explained Gregory Constantine, CEO and Co-Founder of Air Company.
“We have been quietly working on this innovation, and we’re proud to debut this SAF technology and commercialization in partnership with some of the most impactful and innovative companies in the world.”
“The aviation industry is a leading contributor to excess CO2 in our atmosphere, and with this announcement, we and our partners aim to create a direct pathway towards a seismic shift away from legacy fossil-fuel-based production in a cost-effective manner. We’re excited about the future and anticipate seeing more partners commit to phasing out fossil fuel use and decarbonizing aviation altogether.”
SAF partners
PR Newswire has released a full list of the partners of Air Co. which will be buying up/collaborating with. JetBlue has announced that they have the intention of buying up to 25 million gallons of AIRMADE SAF over 5 years.
“SAF is the most promising avenue of addressing aviation emissions currently available,” said Sara Bogdan, JetBlue Director of Sustainability and ESG.
“With creative thinking backed by science, Air Company’s work to leverage captured carbon, a resource distinct from other SAF feedstock, represents the kind of innovation that can expand SAF availability and grow the market necessary to reach our industry goals.”
” We’re excited to build upon this partnership established by JetBlue Ventures as we continue on our own path to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2040.”
Virgin Atlantic has announced that they have expressed with Air Company their intention of buying up to 100 million gallons over 10 years.
The U.S. Air Force has awarded Air Co. a contract of over $1 million for which Air Co. has already delivered 5 gallons of its SAF that met the Air Force’s strict fuel performance parameters. It has been successfully tested on the ground.
Boom Supersonic has announced that they will be buying up to 5 million gallons of SAF on an annual basis throughout the Overture flight test program.
“Prior methods of producing synthetic fuel rely on natural gas or the Fischer-Tropsch process, which was developed in 1925 with few fundamental improvements since then,” elaborates Air Company’s Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder, Dr. Stafford Sheehan.
“Application of our new carbon conversion process has the potential to replace legacy Fischer-Tropsch systems by simplifying a multi-step conversion into single-step CO2 hydrogenation to fuel-grade paraffin.”
“Furthermore, with additional reactor modifications, we can produce a fuel composition that is able to be used in a jet engine without the need for any blending with fossil fuel, as demonstrated in our test flight with the U.S. Air Force. Our single-step process will make SAF more cost-effective, toward widespread use.”
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