China Announces Synthetic CO2-to-Fuel Breakthrough: It Can Make Synthetic Jet Fuel More Economically Competitive

      Slash Gear reported in May that scientists from the Shanghai Advanced Research Institute (SARI) have created the long-chain hydrocarbons used in jet fuel by combining waste CO2 with water. Hydrocarbon fuels contain carbon and hydrogen, and combusting them releases CO2 and water vapor. A process known as reverse combustion can combine CO2 and water to make long-chain hydrocarbons.

“The SARI team's process converts these gases into the hydrocarbons, some of which fall within the molecular weight range that distinguishes jet fuel – namely, C8 to C16, where the number denotes how many carbon atoms are in the chain.”

     Producing hydrocarbons from CO2 and water or other intermediate components has long been achievable. The resultant fuel is known as synthetic fuel and may include intermediate products or other end products, including hydrogen, syngas, and methanol. The bottleneck is doing it efficiently or cost-effectively.

“The SARI team's breakthrough came from the catalyst used in the process. Using an iron-based catalyst laced with aluminum and potassium additives, the scientists have created a process that may have overcome these hurdles. We won't get too technical, but the process produces about 454 ml of heavy olefins per gram of catalyst per hour — heavy olefins are a class of long-chain hydrocarbons. Using one particular catalyst "recipe" (FeAlK8 to give it its proper title), the process converted nearly half the incoming CO2 — around 49% — into hydrocarbons.”

“The catalyst also allowed the process to be completed at a relatively low temperature (626 degrees Fahrenheit) and at pressures of about 290 PSI.”

     This is lower or comparable to the pressure in the Fischer-Tropsch process that is used to make nitrogen fertilizer from natural gas.

     The fuel in the new process was found to be stable in a test lasting 33.33 days. Slash Gear also notes that the fuel must pass strict certification and safety testing, and compliance with these standards is necessary if it's to be widely used in commercial aviation. They also point out that if the jet fuel derived from reverse combustion is to be sustainable, it should be generated with renewable electricity. The process uses lots of power, and that adds to the costs as well.

    If captured carbon is utilized as the source of CO2, the process can be considered to be an example of carbon utilization, the U in CCUS.

 

 

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China claims a new breakthrough in alternative fuels: Could it solve global oil problems? Bob Sharp. Slash Gear. May 19, 2026. China claims a new breakthrough in alternative fuels: Could it solve global oil problems?