Liquid fuels are great because they store so much energy, and we’re making them sustainable.

The quest for a new, environmentally sound way of producing, storing and transporting energy is in its early days. Lots of new ideas are being generated and some of them are gaining traction. But how will the new paradigm emerge? Will the world go completely electric? At Avioxx, we don’t think so.

What we have to remember is that change involves gradual transition rather than a sudden switch. This is because the world has to keep on turning, people need to keep on living their lives, feeding their families and earning a living. Otherwise, war, famine and pestilence ensue.

Who’s the big emitter?

Take the hydrogen debate: The scientists warn that we have to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere in order to prevent global temperatures from rising. The most effective way to do this would be to stop building coal-fired power stations, to shut down existing ones and to stop cutting down the rain forests.

China accounts for 30% of global carbon emissions yet plans to continue to commission new coal power plants in the years ahead. Brazil has vast rain forests in the Amazon but continues to clear them for agriculture. Yet in the UK we generate about 1% of global emissions but obsess about what we have to do to solve the problem. We insist that hydrogen is the fuel of the future and have to convert everything to its use. Other people think using ammonia as a fuel or a hydrogen carrier is a great idea. Have they ever sniffed a leak? And we insist on adding a compulsory levy to fuel bills to support measures some committee has deigned necessary.

Liquid fuels have a valuable role

Liquid petroleum derived fuels are castigated as a main cause of climate change. In the West we love our cars. We can go anywhere, do anything, get to work, pop to the shops, visit our families and friends, enjoy the countryside, get to the beach, and much else besides.

We don’t have to rely on an un-runnable railway or unreliable bus service. We don’t have to suffer the impossible burden of taxi fares. Some of us can jet off to another part of the world to get to know other peoples, or simply enjoy warm weather.

Clearly there are drawbacks if you live in a metropolis where bike-riding and cab-calling is more part of the way of life. But for most people, liquid fuels have brought huge benefits. Benefits that many in the rest of the world are very keen to share.

Ground and sea-based vehicles are easier to transition into alternatives to liquid based fuels in comparison to aircraft. Currently there are no viable alternatives for aircraft to liquid fuels. Batteries are currently too heavy to allow flight and hydrogen plane technology is very nascent, therefore the solution in the medium term is to use sustainable aviation fuel in existing engines and infrastructure.

And hydrogen?

The debate goes that if we use wind turbines and solar panels, we will have times of surplus energy and times of deficit. So, we need to design a new infrastructure which enables the surplus power to be stored. And this can be done by electrolysing water. This will generate green hydrogen which we should power our cars, trains, and vans with, so displacing fossil fuels, and the problem is solved.

Instead of transforming current infrastructure, at a huge cost we can use our understanding of technology and engineering to make liquid fuels from something else. We have huge amounts of waste that we either dump in the ground or incinerate in gas-fired furnaces, and this problem is growing year-on-year.

We have ever-growing consumption of all sorts of carbon containing materials which we throw away. Some of it gets recycled, but not enough. Some say we should stop making all of these consumables, but in truth most of them add significantly to our enjoyment of life and good health. Food packaging for example is enormously beneficial in reducing food waste, in improving quality and taste, and in allowing energy efficient distribution and storage.

The area we should focus on is how we treat this waste and create a truly circular economy.

Much of the waste is rich in energy and we can turn it into a whole variety of fuels using clever technology. So why not turn it into our favourite fuels, petrol, diesel and aviation fuel? These are the fuels we have come to love because they are safe, can be stored at ambient temperature, don’t smell very much, can be pumped around economically and have a very high energy content.

Why are we waiting?

So, what are we waiting for? Well we at Avioxx aren’t. We’re pressing ahead with the development of our technology so that sustainable fuels are available, initially as a blend and finally as pure fuel. We will begin with making aviation fuel from domestic refuse, but there is plenty of waste to go around, and the scope is enormous.

There’s no time to waste, if you’re interested in learning more get in touch at info@avioxx.com.