New plant in Germany aims to cut flying’s carbon footprint

German officials are unveiling Monday what they say will be the world’s first commercial plant for making synthetic kerosene as part of an effort to reduce the climate impact of flying.

The facility in Werlte, near Germany’s northwestern border with the Netherlands, will use water and electricity from nearby wind farms to produce hydrogen. By adding carbon dioxide, the hydrogen is converted into crude, which can then be refined into jet fuel.

Burning synthetic kerosene means only as much CO₂ is released into the atmosphere as was previously removed to produce the fuel, making it “carbon neutral.”

The amount the plant can produce from early next year is modest: just eight barrels a day. That would be enough to fill up one small passenger plane every three weeks. The world’s commercial airlines used almost 2.3 billion barrels of kerosene in 2019.

But the organizations behind the project say its purpose is to show that the process is technologically feasible and—once it is scaled up and with sufficient demand—economically viable.

The project is led by Atmosfair, a German non-profit group that provides ways for individuals and companies to offset their carbon emissions. Engineering giant Siemens helped build the plant and national carrier Lufthansa will be the first customer to use the synthetic kerosene, or e-fuel.

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