From Vodka to Sustainable Fuel: N.Y. Company Lands DoD Contract
by Daniel Cusick (Politico Pro Climatewire)Brooklyn-based Air Co. — known for climate-friendly vodka and CO2-based hand sanitizers — makes a big leap into national security with a contract for sustainable aviation fuel.
A technology firm that specializes in climate-conscious fuels and spirits will receive up to $65 million from the Defense Department to develop a carbon-free aviation fuel using captured and repurposed carbon dioxide as feedstock.
The grantee, Air Co. of Brooklyn, N.Y., says the multiyear contract will help prove the viability of its sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, that can be both produced and consumed on military installations around the world.
The fuel, called Airmade, is considered a “drop-in fuel,” meaning it does not require blending with fossil fuels to power an aircraft engine. The development of SAFs could be a game changer for U.S. air bases because it would eliminate the need to transport fuel by truck, rail or pipeline — all of which are subject to attack.
“By establishing on-base production of AIRMADE, and thereby reducing supply chain fuel consumption attributed to ground transportation, Air Company’s integration is the first step in creating a safer, more robust, and decentralized fuel supply chain,” the company said in a news release. READ MORE
US military seeks to brew jet fuel from the air (The Hill)
Department of Defense To Prototype Use of Synthetic Fuels for Contested Environments (Defense Innovation Unit)
SAF Made From Air Could Be a Game Changer for Aviation (AIN Online)
What do vodka, perfume, and jet fuel have in common? They’re all being made from CO2 at Air Company. (Pattrn VIDEO)
Jet fuel from the air? How DOD contract aims to experiment with sustainable aviation fuel (USA Today)
Department of Defense Makes $65 million Bet On Sustainable Aviation Fuel With Latest Startup Investment (Benzinga/Yahoo!)
Defense Department bets $65 million on sustainable aviation fuel with latest startup investment (Business News)
Excerpt from The Hill: The U.S. Air Force is testing new technology that could let it brew jet fuel from the air.
That’s part of an attempt to create a decentralized supply chain for jet fuel — allowing future American military outposts to produce their own.
The Department of Defense on Tuesday announced a $65 million contract with startup Air Company, which brews fuel out of carbon dioxide pulled from the atmosphere.
The company won its spot in the program by winning a 2021 competition by fueling a drone with ready-made jet fuel as part of the Air Force’s Project FIERCE.
Air Company hopes the shipping-container-sized fuel factories will supplement — or even replace — the long, tenuous and explosive supply chains that currently route the fuel from wells through refineries, ports and ultimately to bases.
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Sustainable fuels also bring new supply chain and climate concerns. While Air Company hopes to ultimately produce its fuels from “direct air capture” — by harvested atmospheric carbon dioxide — it currently depends on waste emissions from producing biodiesel.
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Nonetheless, for major air carriers under pressure from investors about their climate plans, the current options are sustainable aviation fuel or grounding their airliners until battery-electric or hydrogen fuel cell breakthroughs make truly zero-carbon air travel possible.
The military last year rolled out its own climate commitments, which included cutting greenhouse gases by 50 percent by 2030, making each base electrically self-sufficient by 2035, and making every base carbon neutral by 2050. READ MORE
Excerpt from Defense Innovation Unit: Producing aviation fuel on-site using locally-available feedstocks holds promise to reduce both supply chain issues and greenhouse gas emissions.
The Department of Defense (DoD) spends significant time and resources managing worldwide aircraft fuel logistics, which often involves a combination of ships, tanker planes, and convoys. Not only are these supply networks time- and cost-intensive, but they become extremely vulnerable when carrying out distributed operations in a contested environment. As the largest government consumer of fuel, the DoD is dedicated to reducing emissions and taking bold steps to accelerate adaptation to reduce the adverse impacts of climate change.
Leveraging new and expanding commercial synthetic drop-in fuels technology (to include jet fuel, Diesel, and gasoline) has the potential to shift the Department’s fuel resupply paradigm in favor of synthetic fuel production at or near the point of need. Small-scale, highly-mobile, and rapidly-deployable synthetic fuel production systems would decouple fuel from a constrained logistics environment and deter adversary targeting while also providing decarbonization pathways for the future joint forces.
To reduce these logistical challenges and meet the Military Services’ climate action goals, the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) partnered with the United States Air Force (USAF), the Operational Energy Capability Improvement Fund (OECIF), along with support from the Department of Energy (DoE) and the U.S. Army’s Office of the Chief of Engineers —awarding a contract with a $65 million ceiling to Air Company. The award funds Project SynCE (Synthetic Fuels for the Contested Environment), which aims to create fuel from the atmosphere’s most abundant pollutant, carbon dioxide (CO2.) Air Company’s system mimics photosynthesis to convert CO2 from sustainable feedstocks into Sustainable Aviation Fuel or “SAF” that is carbon-negative in its production.
“We have an incredible opportunity to reduce our burden on global energy supply chains, and simultaneously reduce emissions, without sacrificing mission effectiveness,” said USAF Lieutenant Colonel Nicole Pearl, Project SynCE Operational Lead. “By developing and deploying on-site fuel production technology, our Joint Force will be more resilient and sustainable. Together with the DoE and the commercial industry, we’re working towards revolutionary energy solutions that benefit not just the military, but our society as a whole.”
SAF could be produced on-site at fixed bases as well as in remote forward operating locations and is considered a drop-in fuel, meaning it does not require blending with traditional fossil fuels to operate in an aircraft. This will give the Services the ability to reduce or eliminate their dependence on a “commercial-first” strategy, which creates reliance upon local commercial markets for fuel.
The ideal SAF is capable of leveraging a variety of locally-available CO2 feedstocks, sourced from air or seawater in a small, mobile form-factor that will enable agile basing concepts around the world. Not only would SAF give forward-deployed greater mission flexibility, but also it will begin to greatly reduce life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to conventional jet fuel. In this case, leaving a net-negative GHG footprint. makes SAF more cost-effective for widespread use.
“In support of the National Defense Strategy, operational energy initiatives assure the delivery of energy where and when needed and increase the ability to sustain mission effectiveness in contested operating environments.” – FY20 OE Annual Report READ MORE
