UK-based biofuel company Clean Planet Energy has developed a sustainable aviation fuel from recycled plastics it claims reduces the carbon dioxide emissions of aircraft by 75%.
The fuel is branded as Clean Planet Air in their launch video above and will be produced at conversion plants that will recycle thousands of tonnes of waste-plastics from the environment each year.
Bertie Stephens, CEO of Clean Planet Energy (CPE) said, “On an average day across the world [post-COVID], you would expect 75,000 planes to take-off. The aviation industry is making great strides to be greener and cleaner, but still, it is calculated by the European EEA that a domestic flight, for every 1,000km travelled, will release 250kg of new carbon dioxide emissions for every passenger onboard.
“Those numbers will not meet the emission cuts the world must make to stop climate change, so alternatives are needed now. Currently there is no viable commercial alternative to fossil-fuel led aviation, so until there is, our strategy is to assist in the reduction of carbon emissions by producing alternative & greener fuels.”
CPE’s conversion plants will use a patented pyrolysis and oil-upgrading process which turns plastic into fuels and petrochemical feedstocks to make new plastics. The plastics used by Clean Planet in their conversion plants would otherwise be going to landfill, incineration, or worse, entering our oceans.
Dr. Andrew Odjo, the chief technology officer of CPE said, “In addition to the carbon-emission savings, our Kerosene / Jet Fuel also has an 850x reduction in the poisonous NOx and SOx emissions which are globally responsible for around 9,000 early-deaths a day.
“Our technology is able to handle plastics that simply cannot be mechanically recycled today, therefore also providing a solution to the waste-plastic crisis too”.
Construction of CPE’s first two conversion plants is underway at Suffolk and Teesside in the UK, with the first are expected to be completed this year. Another four are in development, and the company said it is working with local authorities in the UK and Europe.
CPE have already introduced a certified, premium, ultra-clean & zero-sulphur Diesel fuel which meets the top EU EN15940 specification, as well as another fuel which can be used in large marine vessels such as cruise and freight ships.
