Swiss Researchers Say They Can Produce SAF from Air | Aviation International News

Sustainability and Environment

Swiss Researchers Say They Can Produce SAF from Air

Researchers in Switzerland say they have developed technology to produce sustainable aviation fuel using nothing but air and sunlight.

This solar reactor demonstrator on the roof of the machine laboratory at ETH Zurich, uses a sun-tracking, parabolic reflector to concentrate the sunlight that powers the reaction which eventually turns atmospheric carbon dioxide and water into drop-in hydrocarbon fuels. According to the researchers, the reaction can be tailored to produce specific fuels. (Photo: Alessandro Della Bella/ETH Zurich)

By Curt Epstein • Business Aviation Services Editor

November 4, 2021

Researchers in Switzerland say they have developed technology to produce sustainable aviation fuel using nothing but air and sunlight. In an article, "Drop-in Fuels from Sunlight and Air" (Schäppi, R. et al.), published this week in the journal Nature, the team at public research university ETH Zurich, described how they have operated a solar-powered mini-refinery on the roof of one of the school’s laboratories for the past two years to demonstrate the three-stage thermodynamic process by which the fuel is created.

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