The Swiss firm that wants to power planes with green jet fuel

A Swiss firm, Synhelion, is pushing to power aircraft with green “solar fuels” through sun-to-liquid technology, building at industrial scale in Germany while planning expansions in Spain. In September, its spin-off from ETH Zurich began constructing the DAWN facility at Jülich in northwest Germany, using a large field of mirrors and a 20-metre tower where concentrated solar radiation exceeds 1,000°C to drive a thermochemical process. A reactor fed with methane and carbon dioxide from biowaste, plus water, turns into renewable versions of petrol, diesel, and jet fuel via gas-to-liquids methods previously demonstrated in 2019. From next year, Synhelion aims for 10,000 litres per year at DAWN, while a larger continuous plant in sunny Spain is targeted to reach 1.6 million litres annually from 2025. The company is backed by CHF37.5 million in funding and partners including Lufthansa and ENI, with Swiss airline SWISS planning small mixing from 2023.