Fuel via low carbon integrated technology from ethanol
The most recent IPCC report paints a stark picture of our changing climate and the urgency of action to reduce emissions in every sector of the economy. While light-duty road transport can decarbonize through electrification, aviation will continue to require energy dense liquid fuels for the foreseeable future. If we are to decarbonize aviation, it must be through low-carbon fuels that can be made from abundant, sustainable sources that do not increase pressure on land or food. 

The Fuel via Low Carbon Integrated Technology from Ethanol (FLITE) consortium (LanzaTech, SkyNRG, E4tech, RSB, and Fraunhofer) proposes to expand the supply of low carbon jet fuel in Europe by designing, building, and demonstrating an innovative ethanol-based Alcohol-to-Jet (ATJ) technology in an ATJ Advanced Production Unit (ATJ-APU). The ATJ-APU will produce jet blendstocks from non-food/non-feed ethanol with over 70% GHG reductions relative to conventional jet. The Project will demonstrate >1000 hours of operations and production of >30,000 metric tonnes of Sustainable Aviation Fuel, and supports the European Advanced Biofuel Flightpath objectives of getting SAFs to the market faster and using 2 million tonnes of aviation biofuels by 2020.

Ethanol is the ideal SAF feedstock as it can be produced from diverse and abundant resources, including residues from agriculture, forestry, and industry – and even from municipal waste. More low carbon ethanol technologies are being developed in Europe and elsewhere, while at the same time greater electric vehicle penetration reduces ethanol demand. Ethanol-based SAF offers an opportunity to divert sustainable carbon from road transport – which can be electrified – to aviation, which cannot. This strategy will expand the ethanol market and meet aviation’s low carbon fuel needs. The diversity of ethanol sources offers the potential to produce cost-competitive SAF, accelerating uptake by commercial airlines and paving the way for implementation.