While some countries are doubling down on electrification due to fuel shortages caused by the Iran war, he also emphasized that aviation is an industry that can literally establish its foundation without using fossil fuels. Flight relies on fossil-based jet fuel, which is extremely difficult to decarbonize.
Chinese researchers have now reported a process that could help reduce aviation’s carbon footprint while tackling the plastic waste crisis. This two-step process converts plastic waste into high-quality jet fuel more efficiently and at a much lower cost than other methods of converting plastic waste into fuel that researchers have previously reported.
The team’s preliminary analysis was reported; natural energyshowing that plastic-based fuels can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 73% compared to oil-based jet fuels.
The plastic the researchers are breaking down is polystyrene. This lightweight polymer, commonly called Styrofoam, is used to make packaging and insulation. It is expensive and notoriously difficult to recycle. Not only is it usually contaminated, but it also consists mostly of air, making it difficult to separate and transport. Currently, nearly all waste polystyrene is sent to landfills.
A team from Nanjing Forestry University and Tsinghua University has designed a new catalyst that decomposes polystyrene at high temperatures in the presence of hydrogen. The process is carried out continuously in tandem reactors.
The first reactor heats the polystyrene to 460°C in a hydrogen atmosphere step. This breaks the long polymer chains of the polystyrene into shorter chains. In the second reactor, the fragments are passed over a ruthenium catalyst at 160°C. The resulting chemical reaction converts the fragments into molecules called alkanes. These are energy-dense hydrocarbon molecules that act as jet fuel.
Previous research into making fuel from plastic waste includes a one-step, low-temperature process and using sunlight to harness carbon dioxide. This new method requires higher temperatures, but is faster, has much higher yields, and requires less pressure. But it remains to be seen whether it can be scaled up cost-effectively.
In their study, the researchers showed that this method converts 94.8% of waste polystyrene into liquid fuel. And, according to their preliminary analysis, this fuel will sell for at least $1 to $1.80 per kilogram, competitive with traditional fossil-based jet fuel.
sauce: Atmospheric pressure conversion of plastic waste to cycloalkanes for jet fuel by tandem hydrothermal cracking and gas-phase hydrogenation. natural energy2026.
Image: simply flying
