Decarbonising air travel
Since commercial flights began, we’ve relied on fossil fuels to power our aeroplanes. Now, we’re designing new technologies that are helping to change that.
Uncover Amelia's story and how she's making a difference to lives
Amelia Cook
Senior Engineer
“JM’s vision to build a cleaner, healthier world aligns with
my own passions... it gives
me the opportunity to use my engineering skills to tackle climate change and protect
our planet. I feel like I can personally make a difference for future generations.”
Inspiring science, enhancing life
Can you guess the number of flights globally in 2019?
Aviation is responsible for around…
12% of all transport-
related CO2 emissions
Just under 40 million!
I’m leading the development of our new HyCOgen technology. It’s really exciting. The technology captures carbon dioxide that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere, which you can then react with hydrogen to make synthesis gas – a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. This gas can then be used to make more sustainable fuels and chemicals.
The fact that JM has been able to bring this to market in just a couple of years, and during a global pandemic as well, is amazing. It’s been a fascinating challenge.
Uncover Amelia's story and how she's making a difference to lives
JM’s vision to build a cleaner, healthier world aligns with my own passions. We’ve got to do something or time is going to runout. JM gives me the opportunity to use my engineering skills to tackle climate change and protect our planet. I want us all to have a sustainable future, and JM gives me the chance to actively contribute. I feel like I can personally make a difference for future generations.
Amelia Cook
Senior Engineer
Read more case studies and see how our people are contributing
We can now combine HyCOgen and FT CANS technology to create an end-to-end, low-carbon process to make synthetic crude. And in May 2022, Aramco and Repsol selected both for a new synthetic fuels plant in Bilbao, Spain. Once online in 2024, the plant will make a sustainable synthetic ‘drop-in’ fuel that can be blended
for a variety of vehicles, including planes.
The SAF market will grow quickly. The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents major airlines in 120 countries, wants members to increase the amount of SAF they use from 5%
in 2030 to 65% by 2050. The good news is our technologies are ready today to help meet that growing demand.
Today, aviation is responsible for around 12% of all transport-related CO2 emissions. The lack of alternative fuels means it’s been hard to decarbonise air travel. Until now.
Using our expertise in PGM chemistry and catalysis, we’ve designed clever ways to make sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from alternative feedstocks. For example, our award-winning FT CANS technology, developed in partnership with bp, converts synthesis gas (a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, also known as syngas), made from household waste, into synthetic crude oil. Refiners can upgrade this crude oil into SAF.
From 2022, our technology will begin helping Fulcrum Bioenergy make millions of gallons of synthetic crude, while diverting thousands of tonnes of waste from landfills every year. We also launched our HyCOgen technology in January 2022, which captures CO2 from existing emissions or from the air, and reacts it with zero-carbon ‘green’ hydrogen togenerate syngas that can be turned into SAF.
5%
IATA wants members (airlines from 120 countries) to increase from
A catalytic converter lies between a car's engine and it's exhaust pipe. it contains catalysts to remove pollutants from the car's engine, by converting them into harmless emissions. Catalytic converters help to clean the air we breathe, protecting us from health problems and our environment from smog, acid rain and pollution.
SAF use in
2030 to
2030
by 2050
65%
Cleaner air, healthier people
Hear from Sabrina Elix, Industrialisation Lead
Accelerating zero emissions transport
Hear from Emily Nesling, R&D Scientist
Read more case studies and see how our people are contributing
Hear from Will McDonnell, Research Scientist, and Mark McKenna, Process Technology Manager
Unlocking the potential of hydrogen
Read more case studies and see how our people are contributing
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Accelerating zero emissions transport
Hear from Emily Nesling, R&D Scientist
Read more case studies and see how our people are contributing
Read more
Unlocking the potential of hydrogen
Hear from Will McDonnell, Research Scientist, and Mark McKenna, Process Technology Manager
Read more case studies and see how our people are contributing
Read more
Cleaner air, healthier people
Hear from Sabrina Elix, Industrialisation Lead
Read more case studies and see how our people are contributing
Uncover Amelia's story and how she's making a difference to lives
Inspiring science, enhancing life