Zero-carbon flight tech that uses liquid ammonia unveiled at COP26 by British firm
Investor calls it ‘a profound breakthrough’
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A new process that could enable zero-carbon flights using liquid ammonia is being unveiled at Cop26.
Thus far, hydrogen has been seen as the only potential “clean” fuel for the future of aviation (alongside battery-operated aircraft).
One of the stumbling blocks is that completely different aircraft and infrastructure would be needed to accommodate storing hydrogen, either as a gas or in extremely cold liquid form.
But a British venture from Oxford University scientists and rocket engine technology firm Reaction Engines is proposing using “cracked” ammonia, arguing that existing planes could use it as fuel – with some modifications – by 2030.
Commercial aircraft could be retrofitted with small reactors, according to scientists, allowing hydrogen to be converted from ammonia and used as jet fuel.
“I am excited about the impact that our technology can have in enabling low-impact transitions in hard-to-abate energy sectors,” said Bill David, STFC senior fellow and professor of energy materials chemistry at Oxford.
“Playing to the complementary strengths of ammonia and hydrogen, our cracker technology can rely on the global ammonia infrastructure to provide, at scale, blended ammonia-hydrogen fuels that mimic fossil fuel performance and offer affordable retrofitted energy solutions.”
Seed funding is coming from cleantech investor IP Group.
Robert Trezona, head of Cleantech, IP Group, called the process “a profound breakthrough” and “a credible, amazing combination of science and engineering”.
There are currently a number of obstacles standing in the way of scaling up the use of ammonia, one of which is cost – the price of ammonia far exceeds that of kerosene.
On top of that, the ammonia “cracking” process produces nitrous oxides emissions as well as the desired hydrogen.
These are greenhouse gases that also have a significant warming impact.
However, Professor David said the team were “on a journey”, and were working to demonstrate how these emissions could be lessened as the process is honed.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments