Researchers might have just found a way for humanity to reduce the total environmental impact of air travel in certain situations with the use of electric aircrafts are not exactly practical. This new research has shown that CO2 can actually be turned into jet fuel!
CO2 converted into jet fuel
The report was made by Wired pointing out that Oxford University scientists have recently been successful in turning CO2 into jet fuel. This raises the possibility of certain conventionally-powered aircrafts along with a net zero emission.
This particular technique works by effectively reversing the process of burning the said fuel while relying on a certain organic combustion method. The team involved heated a certain mix of hydrogen, citric acid, and even an iron-manganese-potassium catalyst in order to turn CO2 into a form of liquid fuel that is capable of powering even a jet aircraft.
Better than Hydrogen and H2O conversion
This particular approach was found to be inexpensive, uncomplicated, and also uses certain commonplace materials. It is also estimated to be cheaper than the usual process that is used to turn hydrogen as well as water or H2O into fuel.
The story was reported by Engadget and it notes that there are also numerous challenges in bringing this particular methodology to apply to an aircraft. The lab method had only produced just a few grams of the fuel, clearly, much more is needed in order to supply a single flight or even an entire fleet of jet airplanes.
There needs to be a much more widespread use of the particular carbon capture method. For those that really want effectively zero emissions, the process of capturing and converting the systems would then have them run on exclusive clean energy.
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The industry breakthrough
The researchers are currently talking with certain industry partners, though, and still do not really see any major scientific hurdles. It might also be maybe one of the most viable options for powering up a fleet. A number of them would then have to replace their aircraft to switch to either electric or maybe a different fuel type. This particular conversion process would then allow airlines to keep their own existing aircraft and proceed to carbon neutral until they are finally sure and truly ready for a more eco-friendly propulsion.
While the world of cars has slowly become more welcoming to electric vehicles and Tesla being one of the most popular EV companies in the world, there is still not much going on when it comes to the airline companies on a much larger scale. While electric aircraft are definitely an option, these have to be manufactured as different models which would then have to replace the already functioning existing models. The shift can be quite pricey and this is why the use of this new method of converting CO2 into jet fuel could possibly help make the transition a little more attainable.
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Written by Urian Buenconsejo
