Emily Kwong
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Appearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
It's a very good question.
Yes, there is a way to make SAF out of thin air.
The way you do this is you combine captured carbon dioxide, say from direct air capture,
with hydrogen atoms found in water.
And those liquid hydrocarbons can be converted into SAF.
However, this synthetic process is even more expensive than the bio-based processes, so it's just not practical right now to scale.
And I suppose that is where a new $20 million venture in Washington state is trying to break through.
The goal of the Cascadia accelerator in your home state of Washington is to make SAF for the Pacific Northwest.
Alaska Airlines is a partner.
Washington State University is a partner.
They want to create a reference library, basically that portfolio Joshua was talking about of all the different ways that SAF can be made in the future.
Joshua is the technical lead for this project and a self-described fuel nerd.
His lab has already received SAF samples from 40 different institutions.
I mean, exciting as this venture is, it has a lot to prove.
A recent Reuters investigation found that of the 165 SAF projects that have been announced by airlines over the last few years, only 10 reported producing commercial volumes of SAF.