Johnson Matthey targets greener aviation demand with new reverse water gas shift technology

JOHNSON Matthey (JM) has launched a new reverse water gas shift technology called HyCOgen to produce chemical feedstocks for aviation fuel from captured CO2.

Announcing the technology, JM said it wants its catalysed process to be used in the production of greener aviation fuel. To this end, HyCOgen would use captured CO2 and react it with hydrogen from renewable sources to produce carbon monoxide. Then by integrating the process with the FT CANS Fischer-Tropsch technology that it developed with BP, the carbon monoxide would be combined with more hydrogen to produce synthetic crude and upgraded into a range of products including aviation fuel, diesel and naphtha.

JM said the integrated technology is cost-effective across a wide range of project sizes and can help the aviation industry reduce emissions as it works to develop non-fossil fuel propulsion systems, including battery powered planes.

Last year, airlines pledged to become net zero by 2050 in line with international climate targets. This pledge came through the International Air Transport Association (IATA) which says emissions reductions will be made chiefly through the use of sustainable aviation fuels (65%); through investment in new aircraft technology including electric or hydrogen propulsion systems (13%); approved offsets through CCS technology (19%); and operational efficiency (3%).