Currently, most of the food scraps that are used for energy around the world are converted into methane gas.
But researchers in the US have found a way of turning this waste into a type of paraffin that works in jet engines.
The authors of the new study say the fuel cuts greenhouse gas emissions by 165% compared to fossil energy.
This figure comes from the reduction in carbon emitted from airplanes plus the emissions that are avoided when food waste is diverted from landfill.
Spotter, John B.
Have they allowed for the emissions caused by the processing of the food waste, the disposal of residue, and the shipping costs?
No? Thought not.
The key statement:
Diverting food waste from landfills resulted in negative carbon emissions by avoiding methane release (−154 g CO2eq/MJ), while VFA production and VFA catalytic upgrading accounted for 84 g CO2eq/MJ and 15 g CO2eq/MJ in emissions, respectively. This resulted in an overall carbon footprint for Fast Track VFA-SAF of −55 g CO2eq/MJ, which is 165% lower than fossil jet fuel (85 g CO2eq/MJ). Biogenic CO2 emitted from VFA-SAF combustion was accounted for as a credit per life cycle analysis convention
Hallelujah! The unicorns have arrived.
Erm…the pendant in me says this might be correct. If the other method cuts emissions by 10kg and the new shiny one cuts by 16.5kg then that is a cut of 165% ‘COMPARED TO FOSSIL ENERGY’. The words ‘compared to fossil energy’ are doing some heavy lifting in this article though aren’t they? And that gives a perfect opening for an innumerate and technically illiterate journo to conjure up some bullshit stats and a pointless point!
Whatever the maths, little boys will have another reason to not eat their greens.
No, Shirley it’s a cut of 165% compared to doing nothing. A change from -10kg to -16.5kg is a change of 65%.
What the af does that mean? That the CO2 doesn’t get counted because {this is all fakery and stage magic}?
Cool looking things at lab scale are ten a penny. Let me know when it’s been scaled up enough to run a small airline indefinitely. Until then, zzzzzzz.
The food waste from the nearby town goes to landfill where it decomposes to produce enough methane to power a 1MW gas turbine. A single GE90 jet engine has a power output of 20 MW at cruising speed. Go figure how much more food we need to waste.
https://news.sky.com/story/net-zero-not-enough-to-combat-climate-change-environment-agency-warns-12247271
It’s never enough for these people, is it?
Presumably, this is the food waste in more sensible times fed to animals. With significant emissions of bacon.
There is no such thing as a free lunch.
As I may have mentioned before, you can power a jet engine with pretty much anything that will burn. The Nazis (and others since) demonstrated it’s possible to use coal dust. The trick with aviation fuel is that it also needs to remain liquid at -60°C.