New grant to help develop aviation fuels
In the beginning of November 2022 Southern Green Gas welcomed the news that we would receive a $1 million grant from the NSW Environmental Trust. The funds will be used to develop a solar powered e-kerosene production module, based on our existing foundational green technology, to produce Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) which is in high demand. We send our gratitude to the Minister for Energy Matt Kean and the NSW Environmental Trust.
In the announcement the NSW Environmental Trust mentioned that we have been awarded this grant because they “consider SGGs as a next generation renewable energy development company that brings breakthrough technology to the global energy industry.”
The importance of green aviation fuel
Our project to develop a solar powered e-kerosene production module for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) aims to fill an important gap in the decarbonisation strategies for the hard-to-abate aviation sector. This helps to ensure that we can keep on flying while the sector reduces their emissions. This is a promise made by multiple national and international companies, including Qantas, who have written into their strategies that they aim to reach net zero emissions by 2050 or before. Overall, aviation accounts for about 2.5% of global carbon emissions but this ratio is expected to climb as other sectors successfully decarbonise.
How we can help
SGG’s novel approach to carbon neutral fuels involves developing small process modules for low-cost mass manufacture that are easy to scale. The e-kerosene module extracts hydrogen (via water) and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and combines them in a reactor to form kerosene in a completely solar powered and renewable process. By combining this true green solar powered solution with the low-cost manufacturing it can tackle one of the biggest challenges so far – price. Price has been a major stopper so far in relation to producing Sustainable Aviation Fuel. Since the cost of sustainable fuel has been so much higher than traditional fuels it has slowed down the transission to e-fuels.We at Southern Green Gas are looking forward to using our technology to change this.
