World’s first industrial CO2-neutral e-kerosene plant inaugurated in Germany

NGO atmosfair and its partners have launched the world’s first production facility for CO2-neutral e-kerosene. The facility, located in the town of Werlte in northern Germany, uses CO2 captured from the air and from a biogas plant that uses food waste, and electricity from wind and solar installations to produce green hydrogen. As of 2022, regular operation will produce eight barrels of crude paraffin a day, which are refined into synthetic Jet A1 fuel for airplanes and delivered to Hamburg Airport. “Nobody wants to give up the dream of flying. That is why we need climate-friendly kerosene. The project shows that the technology is available, and it works,” environment minister Svenja Schulze (SPD) said at the inauguration event. She added that classic aircraft are a long-term investment and are typically in use for up to 30 years, meaning that new kinds of fuels to propel the existing fleet have to be introduced now. Since biomass-based fuels are already reaching their limit, only green hydrogen can be the solution, she said. In a video message, chancellor Angela Merkel hailed atmosfair’s pioneering spirit, which was helping to make Germany a frontrunner in the global energy transition.

NGO atmosfair develops and operates climate protection projects, offers decarbonisation advice to companies and sells CO2 emission offsets from projects in the global south. It will deliver the e-kerosene to its pilot customer Lufthansa Group, which will add the synthetic fuel to its fuel mix. The project is financed without public funding. Germany has a target quota of 0.5 percent e-kerosene by 2026 and two percent by 2030. Minister Schulze said that this created a “sales guarantee” for power-to-x fuels and would help to scale the industry.