There\u2019s good news on the LanzaJet front. For the first time ever, LanzaTech has produced 1,500 gallons of jet fuel, derived from waste industrial gases from steel mills, via a fermentation process. The fuel has passed all its initial performance tests with flying colors.<\/p>\n
The jet fuel is the result of a partnership between Virgin and LanzaTech that\u2019s been underway since 2011. Meanwhile, the underlying Lanzanol<\/strong> is the result of a partnership between LanzaTech and Shougang, one of China\u2019s largest steelmakers.<\/p>\n Those steel mill gases? That\u2019s second chance carbon.<\/p>\n As our friend Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of LanzaTech, points out in any forum she ever speaks at, \u201cthe world is terribly close to 1.5 degrees which means we really need to get our butt in gear and start dealing with carbon; we need to keep fossils in the ground and the only way to do that is to stop thinking of carbon as a single use resource.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a reference to the two degree \u201ccarbon speed limit\u201d. Where temperatures rise to more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Limiting climate change to below the two degree level is a primary goal of the Paris Climate Change Agreement. In fact, it is the Event which Paris Agreement precisely aims to avoid.<\/p>\n But it might as well be called the Carbon Event Horizon<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Like the event horizon of a black hole, we have no way of exactly knowing what will occur once we pass the two-degree threshold. But we suspect that the exotic pressures and temperatures will fundamentally warp our way of life in terrifying ways.<\/p>\n Yikes.<\/p>\n Maybe we\u2019ll find strategies to deal with a hotter, wetter world. Maybe those skies filled with kinetic energy won\u2019t make storms more frequent and violent. Maybe coastal\u00a0cities\u00a0won\u2019t be submerged underwater. Maybe when the rain moves and falls somewhere else we can still grow vegetables. Maybe the trees won\u2019t pack up and die with the hotter temperatures, like they do today. Maybe the wildfires won\u2019t burn and the smoke won\u2019t choke up the sky.<\/p>\n Maybe, maybe, maybe.<\/p>\n But why take a chance?<\/p>\n Meanwhile, there\u2019s the electric problem.<\/p>\n All-electric cars reduce emissions. But although\u00a0they have zero tailpipe emissions, they have emissions from the production of electricity.<\/p>\n In 2012, the Union of Concerned Scientists released a comprehensive report on this \u2014 including grid-by-grid data. Averaging it out, all-electric sedans in 2012 achieved a 32% reduction of carbon compared to the average light-duty passenger car. In other words, cars averaged 35 miles a gallon, but electrics averaged the equivalent emissions from gasoline-powered cars getting 52 MPG.<\/p>\n Couple of concerns, here.<\/p>\n One, vampire losses<\/strong>. The loss of charge when the car is idle and plugged into the wall. Used to be a noted Tesla problem, they have it down to 1-3 miles of charge per day range, in real-world reporting by Tesla drivers. Also, there\u2019s the 8-15 percent energy loss from plug to car<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Accordingly, Green Car Reports concluded that the Tesla Model S, overall, has\u00a0the same carbon efficiency as a 2013 Honda Civic. That car gets 32 miles per gallon.<\/p>\n So, here\u2019s the problem. Climate change isn\u2019t going to be solved by switching the world\u2019s passenger fleet over to all-electrics. They solve the problem only if you would consider the climate change problem solved by everyone driving a Honda Civic.<\/strong><\/p>\n Do you?<\/p>\n If not, consider all-electrics a part of the solution, but not the solution. Which is why dudes with lots of urgent calls on their attention \u2014 like Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Tom Steyer, John Doerr and many\u00a0others \u2014 formed the Breakthrough Energy Coalition. People who look at the hard data know that we have to have an accelerator on carbon reduction, above and beyond what all-electrics offer in the near-to-mid term.<\/p>\n Which means accelerating on second chance carbon.<\/p>\n Why?<\/p>\n Since we\u2019ve already accounted for the emission, second chance carbon is a \u201cfree pass\u201d on carbon usage (excepting the energy consumed by the system itself). 60-80 percent reductions in transport emissions are possible, even routine, for vehicles using these low-carb fuels.<\/p>\n Every three gallons of fuel generated by second-chance carbon keeps two gallons of sequestered carbon (i.e. petroleum) in the ground.<\/p>\n As Dr. Holmgren points out, \u201cwe aren\u2019t going to put electric planes up in the air nor electric chemicals in our yoga pants\u201d. So there\u2019s an extra benefit from Second Chance carbon fuels. They address challenges that electrics won\u2019t. Good news for yoga enthusiasts.<\/p>\n LanzaTech makes some. There\u2019s Lanzanol which works in passenger cars and drops carbon by 80 percent. There\u2019s a jet fuel, which reduces carbon by 65 percent, according to preliminary testing.<\/p>\n Other companies are using Second Chance Carbon to make fuels or chemicals. Fulcrum BioEnergy is using municipal solid waste to replace fossil diesel and jet fuel. Enerkem is using the same type of material to replace fossil industrial chemicals.<\/p>\n The pair\u00a0are now set to continue to work with Boeing and a host of industry colleagues to complete the additional testing aircraft and engine manufacturers require before approving the fuel for first use in a commercial aircraft. Assuming all initial approvals are achieved, the innovative LanzaTech jet fuel could be used in a first of its kind proving flight in 2017.<\/p>\n Sir Richard Branson said: \u201cThis is a real game changer for aviation and could significantly reduce the industry\u2019s reliance on oil within our lifetime. Virgin Atlantic was the first commercial airline to test a biofuel flight and continues to be a leader in sustainable aviation. We chose to partner with LanzaTech because of its impressive sustainability profile and the commercial potential of the jet fuel. Our understanding of low carbon fuels has developed rapidly over the last decade, and we are closer than ever before to bringing a sustainable product to the market for commercial use by Virgin Atlantic and other global airlines.\u201d<\/p>\n Airlines need low-carb fuels if they are to avoid complex and perhaps strangulating carbon regulation and a plethora of carbon regimes that they take off from fly and emit over, and land in. So, it\u2019s excellent news for Virgin and friends.<\/p>\n But let\u2019s also look at the broader carbon problem in road transport, with open eyes and clear thinking. To avoid the Carbon Event Horizon, 60 percent solutions are needed in the near term. Low-carb fuel tech offers a nice pathway forward for steel mills such as ArcelorMittal \u2014 but also for governments and concerned citizens who see the urgency in the data and need tech that delivers big numbers quickly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There\u2019s good news on the LanzaJet front. For the first time ever, LanzaTech has produced 1,500 gallons of jet fuel, derived from waste industrial gases from steel mills, via a fermentation process. The fuel has passed all its initial performance tests with flying colors. The jet fuel is the result of a partnership between Virgin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","nova_meta_subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572,5571],"tags":[12463,10617,10743],"supplier":[10295,163,2301,2806,2392,4639,12309,3834,160],"class_list":["post-37462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bio-based","category-co2-based","tag-ccu2016","tag-jetfuel","tag-useco2","supplier-arcelormittal","supplier-boeing","supplier-enerkem-inc","supplier-fulcrum-bioenergy-inc","supplier-lanzatech","supplier-national-wildlife-federation","supplier-roundtable-on-sustainable-biomaterials","supplier-union-of-concerned-scientists","supplier-virgin-atlantic-airlines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37462\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37462"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=37462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The Carbon Event Horizon<\/h4>\n
The Electric Problem<\/h4>\n
The 60 Percent Solution<\/h4>\n
The Further Benefit<\/h4>\n
Where do you get Second Chance Carbon?<\/h4>\n
Next steps for Virgin and LanzaTech<\/h4>\n
Branson: \u201cA game-changer\u201d<\/h4>\n
The Bottom Line<\/h4>\n