Foreign Media: Chinese Scientists Break Through Carbon Dioxide to Aviation Fuel Technology, Driving Laboratory Achievements Toward Industrialization
Against the backdrop of a sharp rise in aviation fuel prices, a team from the Shanghai Advanced Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has achieved significant progress, paving an industrial pathway for converting carbon dioxide into aviation fuel. Data shows that global aviation fuel prices reached $175 per barrel in March this year—an increase of 94.4% compared to the same period last year—and surpassed $200 per barrel in April, more than doubling the price from one year ago, forcing multiple airlines to cut flights. The ongoing Middle East conflict has driven energy prices upward continuously, accelerating the urgency for research and development of this technology.
The team's research findings were published on April 15th in ACS Catalysis, a top-tier journal in the field of catalysis. The core of the study involves using iron-based catalysts to directly convert carbon dioxide into long-chain chemical substances suitable for producing aviation fuel. This process is analogous to the reverse of combustion—waste gases combine with water, and molecules are reassembled into high-energy-density liquid fuels. For years, this chemical process has faced two major technical bottlenecks: difficulty in effectively extending carbon chains and low selectivity toward high-value long-chain products. This research has achieved key breakthroughs in overcoming these challenges, bringing the technology significantly closer to large-scale industrial production.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1863788359130119/
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