Sustainable Jet Fuel

In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw a lessened human carbon footprint as travel ground to a near halt. Now that people have begun to drive, and in particular, fly again, many scientists have been wondering how to reduce our carbon impact while still fulfilling our need for travel. This week, chemists may have found a new answer. The Environmental and Energy Study Institute, a bipartisan nonprofit dedicated to promoting sustainability, writes that aircraft contributes to 12% of the US’s total emissions from the transportation sector, and 3% of total US emissions (here). Unlike cars, planes are too large to carry batteries that allow them to run on solar power. But on December 22, researchers at Oxford published in Nature Communications that they have found a cost-effective way to convert carbon dioxide into jet fuel using an iron-based catalyst. A catalyst is a compound that speeds up the rate of a chemical reaction, allowing for the carbon from carbon dioxide to separate from oxygen and bond with hydrogen instead. This resulting hydrocarbon is then used as fuel. (You can find more info here.) As we finally arrive at 2021, we can start the new year with hopes for a more sustainable future.

Natalie Wang is currently working on her undergraduate degree in neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University as a Hodson Trust Scholar. Her research interests are in DNA damage and repair, as well as post-operative delirium in elderly patients. Natalie started volunteering with WIS PDX in 2019 as a member of the outreach and education team. When not listening to music or doom-scrolling on Twitter, she can be found checking closets for Narnia.