There’s a new form of air sickness they call ‘flight shame’ in the travel industry. Apparently travelers are so concerned about the environment they are turning their faces away from air travel. This ‘flygskam’ as the Swedes call it could halve the expected growth in passenger numbers. A disruptive Dutch company intends using air fuel to fly jet planes instead.
How Would Using Air Fuel to Fly Jet Planes Work?
On virtual paper the idea is simple: capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air. There are mega tons of CO2 out there. In fact, this is what is causing the flight shame epidemic. Next, take water (H2O) and use electrolysis to split it into hydrogen and oxygen.
Then mix the hydrogen from the water with the CO2 extracted from the air to form syngas. This is a combustible product that can drive internal combustion engines. A few simple modifications later and we could be using air fuel to fly jet planes through the sky, in theory at least. But it’s not that easy in reality. True progress seldom is.
What If We Had a Technology to Stop Climate Change
Is the Future of Aviation Emerging at Rotterdam Airport?
It certainly is the future of aviation, according to Oskar Meijerink from cheeky start up SkyNRG. His company is working with the airport to commission the world’s first hybrid jet fuel using carbon dioxide syngas by 2021.
They plan to use solar panels to energize the capture process. Moreover, they argue their jet fuel will have a much smaller CO2 impact. “The beauty of direct air capture is that the CO2 is reused again, and again, and again,” says Louise Charles. His company Climeworks is providing the technology for direct air capture of CO2.
However, Oskar Meijerink from SkyNRG concedes his syngas is currently more expensive than jet fuel in terms of direct costs. It may therefore be a while before we start using air fuel to fly jet planes on a commercial scale.
Related
Flight Shame Used to Deter Emissions
Splitting Water Using Electrolysis
U.S. Carbon Capture Review and Update
Preview Image: What If We Had Sustainable Aviation Fuel
Video Share Link: https://youtu.be/Q_hw2XhkqLY
