Britain’s Royal Air Force claims world’s first e-fuel flight
LONDON: Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) has set a world first by completing the first flight using only synthetic fuel, the Ministry of Defence said.
Group Captain Peter Hacke completed a short flight in an Ikarus C42 microlight aircra at an airfield in Gloucestershire, western England, earlier this month.
“Zero Petroleum’s synthetic UL91 fuel is manufactured by extracting hydrogen from water and carbon from atmospheric carbon dioxide,” the MoD said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Using energy generated from renewable sources like wind or solar, these are combined to create the synthetic fuel.”
The ministry said it had the potential to save 80-90 percent of carbon per flight and help the air force’s aim of using synthetic fuel to power fast jets in the future.
“This is a world first ‘innovation’,” said minister for defence procurement Jeremy Quin, whose government has set a target of Britain reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
“Whilst green technologies like electric and hydrogen power generation are viable for many RAF platforms, highperformance aircra require a liquid fuel alternative, like the UL91, to maintain operational capabilities.”
The aviation industry — one of the biggest emi ers of greenhouse gases — has embarked on a major effort to green its image and to develop less polluting fuels.
Synthetic or electrofuels (efuels) use hydrogen, produced by electrolysis, and capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
By recombining the two, fuel similar to aviation kerosene is obtained.
To be environmentally friendly, the electricity needed to produce it must be decarbonised, and come from renewable or nuclear sources.
These cu ing-edge technologies are experimental but are still much more expensive than renewable fuels that are being widely tested by the industry, and cost more than kerosene.