Prometheus Fuels has announced its revolutionary new pathway for producing synthetic kerosene directly from direct air capture of atmospheric carbon dioxide and off-grid renewable electricity.
The new e-kerosene pathway is the world’s first process in history to make kerosene from electricity and carbon dioxide without using hydrogen. The kerosene produced from the new process is 100 per cent carbon neutral.
Prometheus said its kerosene pathway makes the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis obsolete and reduces the cost to make e-fuels by more than 80 per cent compared to previous technology.
Prometheus explained that its new process is based on what the company calls “electrochemical oligomerisation”, which combines smaller monomers into larger molecules, like hydrocarbons.
Compared to the Fischer-Tropsch process, which requires high pressures and temperatures, Prometheus has developed the ability to achieve its carbon-carbon chain lengthening using electromagnetic fields and electric currents in water at room temperature and atmospheric pressure.
The Prometheus process uses equipment that is less expensive and can be powered by intermittent, off-grid solar, allowing access to the lowest energy input costs.
Rob McGinnis, founder and CEO of Prometheus, said: “Our new kerosene pathway takes e-fuels beyond decarbonisation to direct economic competition with oil-based fuels.
“Our pathway puts three holy grails of energy within reach: a new source of energy for data centres, limitless low-cost SAF, and unblockadeable fuel logistics for defence.
“The implications of this new technology – the advantages it creates for energy independence and national security – are profound.”
The new pathway eliminates the major cost drivers of conventional e-fuel systems. It does not use hydrogen, does not rely on high-temperature or high-pressure reactors and was built to operate on intermittent off-grid renewable electricity.
Kerosene forms directly in Prometheus’ Faraday Reactor hydrocarbon eelectrolyser and self-separates from water, at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, producing finished kerosene fuel.