This company wants to make air travel sustainable
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2022/11/10/tech/air-company-sustainable-airplane-fuel-mission-ahead
Author: Clare Duffy
In 2019, Air Company made a splash when it launched vodka derived from recaptured carbon, in an effort to reduce the amount of the harmful greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. On November 10, 2022 the Brooklyn-based startup has begun using the same process to make fuel for airplanes. Air Company’s sustainable aviation fuel, which was recently tested by the US Air Force, could ultimately help the airline industry hit its goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Currently, the airline industry accounts for about 3% of total global carbon emissions each year, and mostly relies on traditional, fossil-based fuels that require various forms of environmental disruption to produce. A number of producers of sustainable aviation fuel have emerged in recent years, including a major Finnish producer called Neste, many of them using ingredients such as plant material and cooking oil. But Air Company’s production process starts by pulling harmful carbon emissions out of the air. By the time a plane has flown using Air Company’s fuel, it will have released the same amount of carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere as was captured to make the fuel, meaning the process on the whole is carbon-neutral, Sheehan said. The company uses renewable energy sources like solar to power its production facility.