Could airplane pollution be solved by fuel made of sunlight and air?
Aeroplane fuel can be made out of just sunlight and air, say scientists in Switzerland.
A new system has been created on the roof of ETH Zurich University where engineers are testing whether this type of fuel generation can work in the real world.
So is making plane fuel out of natural elements too good to be true - and how does it actually work?
The carbon neutral fuel is created in three steps. First, an air capture unit absorbs carbon dioxide and water from the air. Secondly a solar unit extracts energy from the sun, which then turns these elements into a mixture of carbon monoxide and oxygen (called syngas).
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#Carbon Footprint
#Concentrated Solar Power
#Electricity
#Environmental
#General Clean Energy
#Greenhouse Gas Emissions
#Health
#Hydrogen
#Transport
Atlantis Viewpoint
Aviation and shipping currently contribute approximately 8% of total anthropogenic air pollutants and CO2 emissions, so little changes in fuel production can represent a big impact on human life. Plenty of reason to celebrate the invention of a new, slightly cleaner method of producing jet fuels. But, how is the new 'solar kerosene' produced?
First, an air capture unit absorbs carbon dioxide and water from the air. Secondly, a solar unit extracts energy from the sun, which then turns these elements into a mixture of carbon monoxide and oxygen (called syngas). Lastly, the syngas is turned into a liquid which is used as fuel. However, even if produced using clean energy to avoid the use of more fossil fuels in the process, the exposure to jet engine emissions is associated with similar adverse health effects as exposure to diesel and other traffic emissions.
But, even if carbon-neutral fuels cannot be called True Clean Energy, this still represents a little victory in terms of air pollution and its associated carbon emissions. We look forward to the final development of this idea and we'll be informing, so you can choose to travel in a cleaner way.
