A lifelong aviation enthusiast who joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in 2007, Curt came to&nbsp;the publication&nbsp;from the broadcast industry where he was a national science and technology television reporter and producer. He writes on the FBO field, aviation finance, and sustainable aviation and occasionally contributes to&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;sister publication&nbsp;Business Jet Traveler. Curt was a member of the AINtv reporting staff that won the 2008 Aerospace Journalist of the Year award for Best Airshow Daily. That same year, he was a finalist for another AJOYA award. He earned an AJOYA for Best Business Aviation Submission in 2018 and was a finalist in that category in 2021. He received the National Air Transportation Association’s&nbsp; Aviation Journalist Award in 2012 and won a Pegasus Sapphire Business Aviation Award for outstanding journalism in 2021.
Before joining AIN, Curt worked with&nbsp;Consumer Reports’ television division, CRTV, and for several local television news staffs. An honors graduate of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, he earned a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from Boston University in 1995. Curt lives in New York State with his wife and two young sons.

Business Aviation Services Editor

Curt Epstein

Jet fuel distributor EVO Fuels (Booth 4070) has partnered with UK-based Zero Petroleum, which is dedicated to the production of fossil-free, petroleum-based transportation fuels. The&nbsp;two companies are co-exhibiting this year at NBAA-BACE.

 


Synthetic fuels are made using renewable power to extract hydrogen from water and capture carbon from atmospheric carbon dioxide, and when burned they emit the same net amount of carbon as was used in their production.

 


Founded by Cambridge University-trained engineer Paddy Lowe, who will be present at the Evo Group exhibit, said Zero Petroleum is ramping up production of its drop-in synthetic avgas, 'Zero Avgas',&nbsp;and jet-A 'Zero&nbsp;Jet'. These fuels are synthesized from water and carbon dioxide using renewable energy in a process the company calls petrosynthesis.

 


“Synthetic fuels eliminate greenhouse-gas accumulation through the creation of a circular carbon cycle and so eliminate the need for fossil fuels in global industries such as aviation,” said Lowe, adding that they deliver the same performance and range as existing products&nbsp;but with an entirely sustainable lifecycle.

 


Last year, the company provided the fuel for&nbsp;the world’s first flight powered by synthetic fuel in Cirencester, UK, in an unmodified Rotax-engined Ikarus C42. And in July, Zero Petroleum signed an agreement to work with the Royal Air Force on scaling up the technology to produce fuels in support of the RAF’s net-zero goals.

 


Last month, it announced the establishment of the 10,000-sq-ft Laboratory Zero&nbsp;technology center in Oxfordshire. Its first production facility in the southern UK is expected to be operational by third-quarter 2023, and EVO is assisting the company with the evaluation and selection of U.S. locations in Texas, with&nbsp;construction there&nbsp;to begin&nbsp;by early 2024.

 


Beyond that, EVO anticipates&nbsp;a future where such centralized production may become obsolete due to the new technology. “We intend to offer our clients self-contained turnkey jet fuel generation capabilities,” said Paul Wilkinson, EVO Group co-director. “With access to wind, solar, and geothermal energy becoming more readily available, there is no reason why an FBO or corporate fleet operator could not have their own carbon-neutral synthetic fuel plant right next to their fuel farm.”

News about environmental issues relating to aircraft operations, including noise issues, emissisions, and regulations. See Fuel for biofuel.

EVO Fuels Partners with Synthetic Fuel Producer

EVO Fuels has invested in Zero Petroleum, which aims to produce net-zero-emission aviation fuels.

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

Charles Alcock

News and issues about aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), covering all segments of the aviation industry; and modifications for aircraft and engines. Subjects include product support of aircraft, engines and avionics, MRO company mergers, acquisitions, announcements and personnel, Airworthiness Directives, Supplemental Type Certificate approvals and other topics.

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

Manufacturer says solar power is part of efforts to reduce environmental footprint 

Solar Panels Now Power Gulfstream’s Mesa Service Center

News and developments about airplanes, helicopters and unmanned air vehicles used in all varieties of operations, including airlines, military, business, commercial, general aviation and private.

News about commercial airlines, including regulations, aircraft orders, safety, acquisitions, and mergers.

Green Flyways initiative is considering the potential for MD Aircraft's eViator commuter

Partners Trial Electric Air Services in Norway and Sweden

Charlotte Bailey

News, issues, personnel, equipment and developments about air traffic management.

News and issues relating to the aerospace industry that are related to the science, engineering and business of flight in space involving civil, industrial and military applications, and similar topics related to flight in the atmosphere of the Earth that are not covered more directly by other AINonline subject channels. In other words, both astronautical and aeronautical subjects, except for those aeronautical topics that are specifically covered elsewhere on this website.

UK’s ‘Operation Blue Skies’ to redirect commercial traffic in Shanwick airspace

North Atlantic Airspace-Scale Contrail Trial Underway

Emissions reduction indexes will help contrast economics with compliance mandates

Argus Releases Sustainable Aviation Fuel Evaluation Tool

Government-funded consortium to aims to connect remote communities 

Project SEAN Trials Electric Flights For Scotland

News and developments about aviation fuel, including jet fuel, aviation gasoline, and biofuel.

News about bills, laws, regulations and other governmental decisions affecting aviation and aerospace. Topics include FAA re-authorizations, taxes on fuel and aviation activities, environmental legislation, ICAO decisions, governmental mediation of labor conflicts and World Trade Organization disputes and decisions.

News and issues relating to international air transport and cargo carriers, national airlines and regional airlines, including aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

Shift could come as the state's tax incentives change

Louisiana Could Supplant California as SAF Leader

New three-year campaign will design, build, and fly wing extension devices

WoT? Experimental Elongated Airbus Wings To Fly Next Year

Cristofer Slotoroff

News and issues concerning general aviation, specifically airplanes and helicopters powered by piston and alternative engines (i.e., non-turbine powered aircraft). Subjects include aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

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