Synthetic Jet Fuel.
Sir; Tim Palmer (Feb 28) correctly highlights a way to reduce the environmental impact of a third runway at Heathrow through jet fuel produced from CO2 sucked from the air, with renewable hydrogen produced from water.
Aircraft emit proportionately more CO2 at take-off and landing, so capture and conversion at airports would help to reduce the growing levels of aviation emissions. UK scientific breakthroughs in the technologies of capturing and turning CO2 into aviation fuel now mean that this is possible. This technology could also partially mitigate CO2 emissions from large stationary fossil fuel combustion plants.
We now have the opportunity for this country to use its science base as a stimulus to build a global coalition to develop renewable carbon fuels, often with better combustion efficiencies and lower emissions. This would be part of a bright energy future with low-carbon fuels, which could be used in existing aircraft but with a lower carbon footprint.
Professor Peter Edwards, FRS, Dr Tiancun Xiao, senior research fellow and Dr Benzhen Yao, EPSRC postdoctoral fellow, Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford; Professor Peter Styring, FRSC, director, UK Centre for Carbon Dioxide Utilisation, University of Sheffield
