The introduction of Power-to-Liquid and renewable hydrocarbons

With the ever growing emphasis on how we can continue to grow use of renewable energy across the globe, manufacturers and fuel experts are always looking for new ways to decarbonise energy used for fuel.

Power-to-Liquid (PtL) is one of the latest types of sustainable fuels that we can look at to help towards a more sustainable future of fuel production.

A synthetically manufactured liquid hydrocarbon, PtL can be used across both marine and aviation industries, two of the biggest contributors to carbon emissions globally. The roll out of PtL can help reduce greenhouse gases by up to 90%.

The main components used in the production of PtL are carbon dioxide and water. In the simplest form, once carbon dioxide has been captured it is then synthesised with green hydrogen (read more about this here) to generate liquid hydrocarbons. 

Whilst in the current day, production of PtL is very expensive to produce even low volumes, there are still major advantages of the prospective renewable fuel. Firstly, it is easily transportable within existing fuel infrastructure which will make the roll out of Power-to Liquid an easier transition. 

With this, whilst we cannot expect PtL to be readily available to use for up to 20 years, the liquid hydrocarbon can be blended with 50% kerosene, a combination that is compliant with current jet fuel standards.