Why scientists are making jet fuel from landfill gas

What if the carbon dioxide and methane that this landfill emits could power an airplane and reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the same time? Australian researchers say they’ve come up with a way to do just that, and it could help the aviation industry meet its net 0 carbon emissions target by 2050. I think the impact is very significant because, unusually, you have a win win approach here. This is PJ Cullen, a chemical engineering professor at the University of Sydney. He says he’s developed a method that takes greenhouse gases like CO2 and methane and converts them into fuel through a chemical process using plasma. In one sense, we have this idea that we’re going to be capturing emissions that are coming from landfill. On the other, we have a sector that really needs a new technology in order to become more sustainable. The aviation industry accounts for approximately 3% of the world’s emissions, so clearly you cannot get to Net 0 without producing some sustainable solutions. Sustainable aviation fuel is typically five times more expensive than traditional jet fuel. Cullen is hoping that will change with the new process. Were able to take cheap or maybe even free electricity, do a conversion process and produce useful chemicals. Meanwhile, the methane being used in the process also helps solve another key issue in sustainability. Methane emissions from human activities have driven about 1/3 of the rise in global temperatures since the industrial revolution. Richard Kirkman is the CEO of waste management company Veolia for Australia and New Zealand. All the household waste, all the bio waste, all the sludges from water treatment and you convert it into energy. About 10% of Australia’s energy supply, and that’s a massive amount in terms of mitigating climate change. This site produces 2,000,000 cubes of methane every year and that’s enough to make 500,000 BBQ gas bottles. And that’s a lot of sausage. He thinks all of Australia’s waste could one day be converted into energy. Cullen says the new method still needs to be scaled and incorporated into established workflows. What’s good about the process is actually is very consistent, so we can model how much gas will be coming off of these landfills per year.