Saf wizz

Two stories this week have caught my eye. Both are offering options of manufacturing alternative fuels. One from equatic carbon that will to make hydrogen from seawater. And the other to make sustainable aviation fuel from sewage. 

Both technologies at an early stage of exploitation. They are at the stage in which I have most of my career experience and the source of many stories as this is the stage of discovery, where an emerging technology is yet to be implemented at full scale. I need to undergo pilot trials and a pilot scale state. 

I am beyond excited that both these technologies each aiming to produce a different alternative fuel are happening at all.

A technology that offers to make green hydrogen, the good kind, created from splitting water, as opposed to hydrogen that is derived from methane, the greenhouse gas, is especially welcome.

And sustainable aviation fuel is something of a holy grail for decarbonising air travel.

Equatic’s technology simultaneously removes carbon dioxide from the ocean and the air while producing hydrogen as a fuel alternative.

It is to be tested on seawater in Singapore having so far been proven on clean water. And That is where the learning will come in. I am sure they’re in for a fabulous journey of discovery learning and optimisation.

Firefly Green fuels technology is being developed closer to home. Closer to home, especially for me. Some of you will recognise that my cover photo was taken in Harwich, Essex.

Essex is where I grew up. It’s not quite the place of my birth as that is part of London. We were part of that exodus out of East London when the Greater London Council built waves of housing Estates on the edge of  market towns. While the original residents did not necessarily welcome the newcomers. The towns did benefit from community services such as sporting facilities, School s and community centres.

And for my part I gained a life experience, that is quite different from what it would otherwise have been. My surroundings were more rural than they would have been had I remained in London and I was able to gain an appreciation for the coast and the beautiful natural environment. 

My Journey through life took me to have a great interest in engineering, in the natural environment and in water.

For this reason I am more than excited to learn about a plan to build a pilot sewage to sustainable aviation fuel facility in Harwich.

It’s like everything that ever bought me joy combined into one perfect offering.

I have spent my career investigating, designing optimising and implementing and emerging technologies. 

All of them designed to protect the environment to make sustainable use of natural resources.

I have spent count hours operating pilot technology. Ironically quite often within a shipping container.

At the Weekends, I would let down my hair by spending my time sailing, Quite often past said shipping containers! And fully in the knowledge that I was surrounded by the essential, and often technically advanced processes for the recycling of water back to the environment after use in homes schools and factories.

Water is one of our most fundamental natural resources and essential for life. It is essential drinking water, but it also supports ecosystems. It is quite literally the source of life on this planet.

Growing up in Essex, we never did fly and we never did run a car. Yet Aviation contribute s greatly to greenhouse gas emissions and global warming, . A short family holiday within Europe is estimated to contribute almost a tonne of carbon dioxide . 95% of this is the flight . In addition Particularly given the need to take into account the non-CO2 effects and that of radiative forcing. Of all the aspects of Aviations contribution to global warming the fuel itself is the hardest part to tackle.

In the industry I have been so strongly associated with for two decades. It is often postulated that the components of sewage could have great value if they could simply be extracted and implemented where they are valued..

I refused to use the term waste water, partly because water is such a valuable and critical resource to us all but also because we do not need to view the components of sewage as was. As a Chemical engineer, I am very aware the matter can never be created or destroyed of the laws of conservation of matter. 

Frustratingly, We will have to wait until 2027 for the first pilot facility and until 2029 for the first commercial scale plant.

The feedstock for the plant is sewage sludge, Which is a resource that should be readily available so long as the logistics, Technical expertise, the coordination and the cooperation are in place. A great deal of learning will also need to be gained captured implemented and fed back. The pilot stage will be Invaluable for this. This is exactly the kind of work I so thoroughly enjoyed doing during my career taking a concept from design to pilot to full scale implementation. And to see it being applied for the creation of a sustainable aviation field from an undervalued resource that is sewage sludge genuinely thrills me.

How very far sighted of wizz air to be involved to sign a 15 year SAF offtake agreement. 

I am doing my best to keep away from the obvious pun here . But I do applaud their initiative.

And congratulations to firefly Green fuels for achieving that agreement . Very best of luck to both firefly and equatic as they commence their laudable journeys.

https://www.thecooldown.com/green-tech/equatic-carbon-removal-hydrogen-production/