Sustainable low carbon aviation fuels are foreseen to play an important role in reducing aviation GHG emissions. Renewable synthetic kerosene can be produced from biomass feedstock and from renewable electricity combined with CO2 (or CO) from a range of sources. E4tech undertook an in depth study to assess the energy, CO2 and cost implications of renewable and low carbon synthetic kerosene production, providing an evidence base to inform policy-making in this area. International and national policies are being developed to reduce aviation GHG emissions, including the Netherlands’ draft Civil Aviation Policy Memorandum 2020-2050 aimed at GHG emissions reduction targets and this study offers insights into the benefits of synthetic routes.
As outlined in the new Hydrogen Strategy and the Prime Minister’s 10 Point Plan, the UK’s ambition is to achieve 5GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030. There are a variety of different ways to produce hydrogen, and the associated GHG emissions depend on the inputs and technologies used. However, a definition of what is ‘low carbon’, including the GHG emissions methodology to be used, has not yet been set by the UK Government. In our new report for the UK’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), E4tech and LBST set out options and provided recommendations for how ‘low carbon hydrogen’ could be defined under a new UK standard, including indicative GHG emission thresholds.
In a first of a kind study, ECA and E4tech undertook a detailed assessment of the energy needs and infrastructure across the Energy Community Contracting Parties to establish the role for hydrogen in achieving decarbonisation. Given its extensive gas infrastructure network, industry sector and good conditions for renewable energy production, Ukraine holds the highest green hydrogen development potential. For each Contracting Party, the study assessed the drivers for introducing hydrogen, its potential production capacity, availability of delivery infrastructure and potential hydrogen applications.
Eight industry-led projects have been shortlisted to receive a share of £15 million funding available under the Green Fuels, Green Skies (GFGS) competition for the development of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) production plants in the UK. This competition was launched by the UK Department for Transport (DfT) in conjunction with delivery partners E4tech and Ricardo Energy & Environment as part of a drive to develop a SAF industry in the UK. Shortlisted proposals include projects aiming to produce jet fuel from household and commercial black bag rubbish, waste wood, sewage sludge, steel mill waste gases or carbon dioxide captured from the atmosphere.
E4tech was commissioned by Transport & Environment (T&E) to assess whether, when and how direct air capture (DAC) could be scaled up to make e-kerosene at the scale needed to decarbonise European aviation. Decarbonising aviation will require significant ramp up of sustainable aviation fuels, including e-kerosene, a fuel produced by combining renewable hydrogen with carbon dioxide (CO2). T&E wanted to know how feasible it would be to do this using CO2 captured from the air, through DAC. This is particularly timely, as the European Commission is preparing to launch Refuel EU aviation, an initiative to boost supply and demand for sustainable aviation fuels in the EU, which is expected to include a target for use of e-kerosene.
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