Hydrogen-electric aviation company ZeroAvia will collaborate with Otto Aviation, LLC, to develop a hydrogen-electric powertrain to power Otto’s Celera aircraft. Celera Under the agreement, Otto and ZeroAvia will work to integrate ZeroAvia’s ZA600 zero-emission engines to Otto’s Celera aircraft. The collaboration has the potential to make the Celera the first... Read more →

Avfuel Corporation is making a multimillion-dollar investment in Alder Fuels—a company that is developing technologies for producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at scale by converting abundant biomass into sustainable low-carbon, drop-in replacement crude oil that can be used in existing refineries to produce aviation fuel. In September 2021, United and... Read more →

United and United Airlines Ventures (UAV) announced an investment in and commercial agreement with Dimensional Energy. Dimensional Energy, which recently received a $3.1-million award from ARPA-E (earlier post), has developed a reactor and catalysts to convert CO2 and hydrogen from water into syngas for use in the Fischer-Tropsch process. Under... Read more →

Lilium, developer of an all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) jet, recently announced that its technology demonstrator Phoenix 2 achieved main wing transition. This means it is the first full-size electric jet aircraft to transition from hover to wing-borne flight. This is a landmark moment for Lilium and for electric... Read more →

ZeroAvia has signed an agreement with MONTE Aircraft Leasing (MONTE), the pioneering zero-emissions regional turboprop aircraft lessor. As part of the agreement the partners will offer aircraft leasing and financing solutions that enable operators to run zero-emission flights. Under the deal, MONTE will purchase up to 100 ZA600 powertrains to... Read more →

Airbus Helicopters in Japan and Japan’s leading helicopter operator Nakanihon Air (NNK) recently jointly performed the country’s first helicopter flight powered with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). NNK’s H215 helicopter conducted a 30-minute flight at Nagoya Airport in Aichi Prefecture. The aircraft was fueled with 600 liters of “SUSTEO 10”, a... Read more →

Manz AG, a globally active high-tech engineering company with a comprehensive technology portfolio, is acquiring a 40% stake in CUSTOMCELLS Tübingen GmbH and further expanding the cooperation already in place for several years. The CUSTOMCELLS Group is developing and manufacturing advanced lithium-ion battery cells. The group recently gained international recognition... Read more →

India-based in-space propulsion startup Bellatrix Aerospace Pvt. Ltd. is raising a Series A round led by BASF Venture Capital GmbH, the corporate venture company of BASF SE, and Inflexor Ventures, an early stage deeptech/IP focused VC Fund. The round also includes participation from StartupXseed, Pavestone Capital, Mankind Pharma family office,... Read more →

Geespace, a wholly owned subsidiary of Geely Technology Group and China’s first privately owned developer, operator, and mass producer of low-orbit commercial satellites, has successfully launched its first nine satellites into low earth orbit from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. Rendering of Geely Future Mobility Constellation Geespace’s terrestrial base station... Read more →

Cresta Funds Management (Cresta) has chosen Topsoe’s HydroFlex solution for revamping the Braya Renewable Fuels refinery (Braya) in Newfoundland, Canada. The refinery will produce up to 18,000 barrels per day of Renewable Diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) initially; the capacity will increase further in various stages of expansion. The... Read more →

Airbus is sterngthening its presence in the UK with the launch of a Zero Emission Development Center (ZEDC) for hydrogen technologies. A priority for the UK ZEDC will be the development of a cost-competitive cryogenic fuel system required for the successful entry-into-service of Airbus’ ZEROe passenger aircraft (earlier post) by... Read more →

Lilium N.V, developer of the ll-electric vertical take-off and landing (“eVTOL”) Lilium Jet, and Livent Corporation, a producer of lithium products for the battery cell industry, will collaborate on the advancement of lithium-metal technology for use in high-performance battery cells. Lilium said that collaborating with Livent, a pioneer in lithium... Read more →

Germany will invest up to €290 million to launch the Innovation and Technology Center for Hydrogen (Innovations- und Technologiezentrum für Wasserstoff, ITZ H2), following the positive conclusion of a feasibility study (German only). The Innovation and Technology Center for Hydrogen (ITZ) is intended to support companies in their development activities... Read more →

Lilium, developer of an all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) jet, is partnering with Honeywell and DENSO, who will co-develop and manufacture the Lilium Jet’s electric motor that will power the Lilium Jet’s engines. Honeywell is already developing the Lilium Jet’s avionics and flight control systems and invested in Lilium... Read more →

ZeroAvia has expanded its agreement with MHI RJ Aviation Group (MHIRJ), a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (earlier post). As part of the broader collaboration, MHIRJ will provide engineering services, aircraft integration, and its OEM experience to support the certification of ZeroAvia’s hydrogen-electric powertrain for retrofit onto airframes in the... Read more →

Phillips 66 made a final investment decision Wednesday to move forward with Rodeo Renewed, the project to convert its San Francisco Refinery in Rodeo, California, into one of the world’s largest renewable fuels facilities. The project, which recently received approval from Contra Costa County (earlier post), is expected to cost... Read more →

ZeroAvia, a company developing hydrogen-electric solutions for aviation, announced a collaboration with its strategic investor Shell, which will design and build two commercial-scale mobile refuelers for use at ZeroAvia’s research and development site in Hollister, California. The announcement follows recent positive predictions relating to the falling price trajectory of hydrogen... Read more →

The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the land-use permit necessary to reconfigure the San Francisco Refinery in Rodeo to produce renewable fuels. (Earlier post.) Under a permitting review process overseen by County leaders and under authority of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the plant can now... Read more →

Following a three-month feasibility study, Aviation H2—an Australian-owned company seeking to achieve net-zero emissions in the aerospace sector through green hydrogen—has selected the use of liquid ammonia to turbofan combustion as the best route to carbon-free flight and will soon start modifying turbofan engines to test and prove the concept.... Read more →

Archer Aviation and United Airlines have formed a joint eVTOL advisory committee. The committee is a forum for United to share its expertise on maintenance and operational matters as Archer moves forward in its aircraft development process. The committee will advise on the development of systems and features intended to... Read more →

BASF has launched UpCore, a new service providing a cost-effective and sustainable technology upgrade from a standard ozone converter to an ozone-VOC (volatile organic compounds) converter for cleaner and healthier aircraft cabin air. UpCore replaces the catalyst core of an ozone-only converter with an ozone-VOC catalyst, a sustainable solution as... Read more →

Refuel Energy Inc. is planning to build a 3,000 barrels per day (bpd) renewable fuel plant (Refuel YYZ) in Southern Ontario. Refuel YYZ will produce renewable diesel (RD), sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), and renewable hydrogen for the domestic market. The proposed facility would supply the aviation and terrestrial fuel needs... Read more →

Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratory have recently published research data demonstrating how cycloalkanes, when used in jet fuel, may reduce condensation trail formation and soot emissions as compared to current fuels. The team detailed its findings in an open-access paper published in Frontiers in Energy... Read more →

Mexico-based global construction materials company CEMEX is partnering with integrated chemicals and energy company Sasol ecoFT and renewable energy company ENERTRAG to combine CO2 with hydrogen to produce sustainable aviation fuel. This project is part of CEMEX’s Future in Action program to reduce its carbon footprint and contribute to a... Read more →

Researchers from the University of Dayton, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and Natural Resources Canada have generated a lignin-based jet fuel (LJF) blend component composed of mostly C6–C18 mono-, di-, and tri-cycloalkanes. The product could complement five existing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) pathways (ASTM D7566 annexes) to enable a 100%... Read more →

TotalEnergies and ENEOS Corporation jointly conduct a feasibility study to assess the production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) in ENEOS Negishi Refinery in Yokohama, Japan. The companies have already started to conduct the study for feedstock procurement and production of SAF related to this project. The proposed unit, the capacity... Read more →

by Michael Sivak, Sivak Applied Research Because of the war in Ukraine, many international flights of various airlines are currently affected by the closed airspaces. Specifically, they are forced to take longer routes that avoid these airspaces, increasing the total fuel consumed. Moreover, some of them also need to reduce... Read more →

Zenlabs Energy, a developer of advanced lithium-ion batteries (earlier post), announced that Energy Assurance, an independent third-party test laboratory, has validated the high specific energy and high-power of Zenlabs’ new large-format pouch cells for the electric aviation market. Energy Assurance tested Zenlabs’ 32 ampere hour (Ah) capacity pouch cells and... Read more →

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) pathways for certain biofuels that are produced from canola/rapeseed oil (earlier post) and is providing an opportunity for comment on the Agency’s lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) analysis of these pathways. With the approval, these fuel pathways... Read more →

Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and John Barrasso (R-WY) led their colleagues in introducing the Renewable Diesel and Sustainable Aviation Fuel Parity Act of 2022. The legislation is cosponsored by Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), and Steve Daines (R-MO). The bill would require the Department of Energy to... Read more →

The same propulsion technology that goes into rockets has made hypersonic speeds—Mach 5 and beyond, i.e., more than 5 times the speed of sound—possible since the 1950s. However, to make hypersonic flight more common and far less expensive than a rocket launch, engineers and scientists are working on advanced jet... Read more →

United Airlines Ventures (UAV) and Oxy Low Carbon Ventures (OLCV) announced a collaboration with Houston-based biotech firm Cemvita Factory to commercialize the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) intended to be developed through a new process using carbon dioxide and synthetic microbes. UAV also announced an equity investment in Cemvita... Read more →

SpinLaunch, the developer of a ground-based, electric-powered, kinetic launch system, has signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA. Through this partnership, SpinLaunch will develop, integrate, and fly a NASA payload on the company’s Suborbital Accelerator Launch System to provide valuable information to NASA for potential future commercial launch opportunities. SpinLaunch... Read more →

ZeroAvia, a developer of hydrogen-electric aviation, signed an MoU and announced a new partnership with the hydrogen fueling firm ZEV Station to develop green hydrogen refueling infrastructure for airports in California. The companies will work together on developing an initial regional airport project that represents sufficient scale to showcase how... Read more →

FlyZero is the UK’s Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) project aiming to realize zero-carbon emission commercial aviation by 2030. Funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the project FlyZero began in early 2021 as an intensive research project investigating zero-carbon emission commercial flight. The independent study brought together... Read more →

Aemetis signed an offtake agreement has been signed with oneworld Alliance airline member Finnair for 17.5 million gallons of blended sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to be delivered over the 7-year term of the agreement. The value of the contract including incentives is approximately $70 million. Sustainable aviation fuel provides environmental... Read more →

Gevo has signed a “take-or-pay” agreement with Delta Air Lines, Inc. to supply 75 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) per year for seven years. Based on current assumptions, including those around future pricing of commodities and the future values of certain environmental benefits, Gevo estimates that the agreement... Read more →

DHL has confirmed new strategic collaborations with bp and Neste, to provide more than 800 million liters (211 million gallons US) of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) to DHL Express within the next five years, with the new agreements forming one of the largest SAF deals in aviation to date. These... Read more →

Rolls-Royce has signed an agreement with Air bp that will reduce lifecycle carbon emissions for gas turbine tests carried out at three sites and support one of the organization’s key sustainability commitments. The agreement ensures that all of the aviation fuel supplied for engine testing at Rolls-Royce facilities in Derby... Read more →

Joby Aviation, a California-based company developing all-electric aircraft for commercial passenger service, announced the completion and subsequent approval of its first Systems Review and its first Compliance Review by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). These reviews, completed at the end of last year, were recently granted approval by the FAA,... Read more →

NetJets Inc., the largest private aviation company in the world, and FlightSafety International, a leader in professional aviation training, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Lilium, makers of an all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) jet (earlier post), for a proposed strategic partnership. The arrangement would provide NetJets... Read more →

Researchers in China report the synthesis of jet-fuel range C10 and C15 polycyclic alkanes and aromatics with furfuryl alcohol and isoprene, two platform compounds which can be derived from lignocellulose. An open-access paper on their work appears in the RSC journal Green Chemistry. Cycloalkanes (especially polycycloalkanes) and aromatics—with their higher... Read more →

The Vertical Flight Society (VFS), a non-profit organization working to advance vertical flight, is holding the first public event in the United States on the use of hydrogen and fuel cells for aviation applications. The event, the 1st H2-Aero Symposium & Workshop, is being held 29-31 March 2022, in Long... Read more →

France-based global energy company TotalEnergies’ Normandy platform has successfully started production of sustainable aviation fuel1 (SAF). This new site complements the biojet fuel production capacities of La Mède biorefinery (Bouches-du-Rhône) and the Oudalle plant (Seine-Maritime). This move enables TotalEnergies to meet demand from its customers and respond to French legislation,... Read more →

Honeywell and Oriental Energy Company announced that a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production facility with an annual output capacity of 1 million tons will be built in Maoming, Guangdong Province in China. The new facility will help meet a growing SAF demand, facilitate greenhouse gas emission reduction in aviation fuel... Read more →

bp and Honeywell have signed a licensing agreement for Honeywell UOP’s Ecofining technology. bp is undergoing pre-feed engineering for its proposed diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) project in Western Australia. bp plans to convert hydroprocessing equipment at its former refinery site in Kwinana, Australia, to produce approximately 10,000 barrels... Read more →

CoFlow Jet, LLC, an engineering and technology company specializing in active flow control using coflow jet (CFJ) technology for aerospace applications, has entered a Joint Ownership Agreement (JOA) with NASA to commercialize the deflected slip-stream (DSS) technology enabled by co-flow jet flow control. Jointly developed between NASA and CoFlow Jet,... Read more →

SWISS will equip its entire Boeing long-haul fleet with fuel-saving AeroSHARK surface technology (earlier post). Starting in the middle of the year, a total of twelve Boeing 777-300ERs will gradually be fitted with the riblet films developed jointly by Lufthansa Technik and BASF. The significantly reduced frictional resistance resulting from... Read more →

bp has begun producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from used cooking oil in co-processing process with crude oil at its plant in Lingen, Germany. This is the first industrial production facility in Germany to use this process for SAF production based on biomass waste and residues. Fats, Oils and Greases... Read more →

Pratt & Whitney was selected by the US Department of Energy (DoE) to develop novel, high-efficiency hydrogen-fueled propulsion technology for commercial aviation, as part of DoE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) OPEN 2021 program (earlier post). The Hydrogen Steam-Injected, Inter‐Cooled Turbine Engine (HySIITE) project will use liquid hydrogen (LH2) combustion... Read more →