- Masdar and others discovers new way to manufacture SAF.
- The consortium concentrates on methanol to jet (MTJ) and has identified it as a decarbonisation strategy for aviation travel.
On a global level, hydrogen is increasingly being touted as a decarbonization solution, provided that it is produced using renewable energy for the electricity source. Many players are attempting to expand the uses for green hydrogen. This fuel should make it possible to create new environmentally friendly aviation fuels (SAF). Four major global energy companies have just certified a novel way of manufacturing SAF.
These include the Masdar (Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company) of the United Arab Emirates, TotalEnergies of France, Siemens Energy of Germany, and Marubeni of Japan. The consortium is concentrating on methanol to jet (MTJ) and has identified it as a decarbonization strategy for aviation travel after two years of research. To obtain MTJ, methanol is used as a raw material. This flammable liquid is obtained by mixing carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen (H2).
The UAE corporation and its foreign partners are collaborating on the project alongside the Khalifa University of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi, Etihad Airways, Lufthansa Group, and the Ministry of Energy of Abu Dhabi. Masdar, TotalEnergy, Siemens Energy, and Marubeni are not the first companies to make a passing interest in the MTJ runway, though. The American behemoth ExxonMobil already proved the efficacy of this solution in June 2022.
According to Masdar, MTJ can be used as an alternative fuel without changing existing storage and refueling infrastructure, aircraft, or engines. According to a study published in 2020 in the journal Atmospheric, between 2000 and 2018, aviation contributed to nearly 6% of global warming, more than digital technology, which is responsible for 3-4% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.