New plant in Germany aims to reduce aviation’s carbon footprint

WERLTE, Germany – German authorities on Monday unveiled what they say is the world’s first commercial plant to manufacture synthetic kerosene in an effort to reduce the climate impact of the flight.

The Werlte facility, near Germany’s northwestern border with the Netherlands, will use water and electricity from neighboring wind farms to produce hydrogen. By adding carbon dioxide, the hydrogen is converted to crude, which can then be refined into jet fuel.

Burning synthetic kerosene means that only as much CO2 is released into the atmosphere as it was previously removed to produce the fuel, making it “carbon neutral”.

The amount the plant can produce from the start of next year is modest – just eight barrels a day. That would be enough to refuel a small airliner every three weeks. The commercial world Airlines companies used nearly 2.3 billion barrels of kerosene in 2019.

But the organizations behind the project say its aim is to show that the process is technologically feasible and – when scaled up and with sufficient demand – economically viable.

The project is led by Atmosfair, a German non-profit group that provides individuals and businesses with ways to offset their carbon emissions. Engineering giant Siemens helped build the plant, and national carrier Lufthansa will be the first customer to use synthetic kerosene, or e-fuel.