Eco-friendly jet fuel made from human waste. British scientists have developed a new method that can be used to convert human waste into jet fuel.
Firefly Fuel, a local company in the British county of Gloucestershire, says its biofuel is chemically similar to jet fuel but produces 92 percent less carbon dioxide.
The use of this fuel in this industry, which contributes two percent of global carbon dioxide production, could help reduce a major source of pollution.
According to James Highgate, CEO of Firefly Green Fuels, the scientists wanted to find a raw material for the fuel that was available in large quantities, and human waste was available in large quantities.
To produce usable fuel from human waste, Firefly used a process called hydrothermal liquefaction. The process uses high pressure and heat to turn the waste into carbon-rich biochar and crude oil.
This bio-raw material closely resembles oil and behaves chemically in a similar way, which means scientists can extract the kerosene from the fuel using fractional distillation.
In this process, the oil is evaporated, and the separated fraction is collected and cooled to a certain temperature.
Preliminary tests of derived kerosene have shown that its chemical composition closely resembles that of fossil jet fuel.
This biokerosene is currently undergoing trials at the DLR Institute of Combustion Technology at the German Aerospace Center.