Jet fuel distributor EVO Fuels (Booth 4070) has partnered with UK-based Zero Petroleum, which is dedicated to the production of fossil-free, petroleum-based transportation fuels. The two companies are co-exhibiting this year at NBAA-BACE.
Synthetic fuels are made using renewable power to extract hydrogen from water and capture carbon from atmospheric carbon dioxide, and when burned they emit the same net amount of carbon as was used in their production.
Founded by Cambridge University-trained engineer Paddy Lowe, who will be present at the Evo Group exhibit, said Zero Petroleum is ramping up production of its drop-in synthetic avgas, 'Zero Avgas', and jet-A 'Zero Jet'. These fuels are synthesized from water and carbon dioxide using renewable energy in a process the company calls petrosynthesis.
“Synthetic fuels eliminate greenhouse-gas accumulation through the creation of a circular carbon cycle and so eliminate the need for fossil fuels in global industries such as aviation,” said Lowe, adding that they deliver the same performance and range as existing products but with an entirely sustainable lifecycle.
Last year, the company provided the fuel for the world’s first flight powered by synthetic fuel in Cirencester, UK, in an unmodified Rotax-engined Ikarus C42. And in July, Zero Petroleum signed an agreement to work with the Royal Air Force on scaling up the technology to produce fuels in support of the RAF’s net-zero goals.
Last month, it announced the establishment of the 10,000-sq-ft Laboratory Zero technology center in Oxfordshire. Its first production facility in the southern UK is expected to be operational by third-quarter 2023, and EVO is assisting the company with the evaluation and selection of U.S. locations in Texas, with construction there to begin by early 2024.
Beyond that, EVO anticipates a future where such centralized production may become obsolete due to the new technology. “We intend to offer our clients self-contained turnkey jet fuel generation capabilities,” said Paul Wilkinson, EVO Group co-director. “With access to wind, solar, and geothermal energy becoming more readily available, there is no reason why an FBO or corporate fleet operator could not have their own carbon-neutral synthetic fuel plant right next to their fuel farm.”