Jet fuel from the air? How DOD contract aims to experiment with sustainable aviation fuel
Sustainable aviation fuel startup Air Company announced a $65 million deal Tuesday with the Department of Defense. Under the agreement, Air Company will have a chance to
Jet fuel from the air? How DOD contract aims to experiment with sustainable aviation fuel
Sustainable aviation fuel startup Air Company announced a $65 million deal Tuesday with the Department of Defense. Under the agreement, Air Company will have a chance to further develop its technology and eventually produce fuel for the Air Force directly from atmospheric carbon dioxide on military bases around the world.
"These contracts allow you to focus on the growth of technology and the development of technology," Air Company CEO Gregory Constantine told USA TODAY.
He said the deal puts the company's technology one step closer to eventually powering commercial flights – a sign of how quickly sustainable aviation fuel technology, or SAF, is evolving and being implemented.
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How does Air Company's fuel work?
According to Constantine, Air Company uses a process to produce fuel by capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and combining it with sustainably produced hydrogen. The resulting reaction creates a mix of alcohols and paraffins that can be burned as fuel in combustion engines.
"The core of our technology is really centered around carbon utilization," he said, estimating that if all the methanol, ethanol and kerosene-dependent industries switched to this technology to produce their fuel, roughly 10% of global CO2 emissions would be mitigated.
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Constantine added that this method, known as power to liquid, is more flexible than many other SAF production methods because it does not rely on agriculture or other kinds of feedstock that can be difficult to transport or have other competing uses.
When will power-to-liquid fuel flights?
It's going to be a while.
Constantine said Air Company is working on scaling up its technology, but even millions of gallons of power-to-liquid production would be small relative to the needs of airlines and other potential users. He added that Air Company can't be the only player in the power-to-liquid space, either.
"We need to produce more," he said. "It can't be a one-stop shop with us."
Air Company plans to open a large-scale production facility in the next few years.
Even if airlines had enough supply available, another complication is that legislation in most places prohibits airlines from using pure SAF to power flights.
"With current legislation and regulation, there are blend limits that we have to adhere to," Constantine said. "The fuel we create has the components to not be blended. We are hopeful that over the course of the next several years, those blend limits will increase" and that regulations will eventually allow the use of 100% SAF.
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To that end, Dutch airline KLM recently conducted tests with engine manufacturer CFM International and SAF producer Neste to see how a jet engine would operate on pure SAF.
"SAF is currently approved for use in all aircraft, but only in blends of up to 50% with conventional jet fuel," a spokesperson for the airline said in a statement. "The use of 100% SAF in aviation has not yet been approved (by most global regulators) and requires certain specifications, which can only be determined on the basis of extensive research and data."
According to KLM, the test confirmed that 100% SAF can be used safely in aircraft engines.
"This test is a small, but significant step towards making the airline industry more sustainable," a statement from the airline said.
Zach Wichter is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in New York. Yo