Johnson Matthey announced on June 8 that a team of scientists and engineers from Johnson Matthey have been awarded the RSC’s 2021 Dalton Division Horizon prize for their collaboration with bp to create bp-JM Fischer-Tropsch Technology – a renewable route to sustainable aviation fuels created from household waste. (Logo quoted from Yahoo’s image)

The waste, which would otherwise be sent to landfill and decompose to form methane, will first be separated from any recyclable items before being converted to syngas and used to make sustainable aviation fuel, which burns cleaner and with fewer particles.

The team developed a new catalyst formation – using concepts from fundamental inorganic chemistry, optimising cobalt dispersion and molecular interactions – as well as a new carrier for the catalyst that increases its surface area and removes the heat given off during the reaction.

The fuel will initially be deployed by Fulcrum BioEnergy in Nevada in 2021. Once operational, the plant – the first of its kind in the US – is expected to convert approximately 175,000 tons of household waste into approximately 11 million gallons of fuel each year – the equivalent of fuel needed for more than 180 transatlantic return flights.

It is a vital step in the transition to low carbon fuels in the aviation industry – one of the most challenging sectors to adapt due to the energy density needed in aircraft.  

(IRuniverse)