Technology

Impressive.

the technology may be ready to move out of the labouratory and onto the factory floor. A CAS statement described the study as providing "a simple strategy for making high-carbon olefins and jet fuel-range products with unprecedented efficiency."

The process, known as CO₂ hydrogenation via modified Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, effectively runs combustion in reverse: rather than burning hydrocarbons to produce CO₂ and water, it combines CO₂ and water-derived hydrogen to produce hydrocarbons. ...

Commercialisation is already under way. Feynman Dynamics, a start-up founded by Hu Shi, a professor at Tianjin University, has signed an agreement with the government of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region to build a facility capable of producing 3,000 tonnes of electro-synthesised sustainable aviation fuel annually. ...

3,000 tonnes represents a tiny fraction of global aviation fuel demand — the world's airlines consume approximately 300mn tonnes annually — but it would establish an operational reference plant demonstrating industrial feasibility at scale, which is a prerequisite for securing the larger investment needed to expand production.