據油氣新聞網6月7日報道，沙特阿美石油公司和意大利埃尼集團日前表示，兩家的合資企業已攜手全球最大客運航空公司美國聯合航空公司投資英國初創企業OXCCU，以降低低碳航空燃料的過高成本。

航空業產生的溫室氣體約占全球排放量的2%，而該行業自己的目標是到2050年排放量不超過森林等自然資源或其他技術所能吸收的排放量，這構成了一個特別艱巨的挑戰。

由美國投資商Clean Energy Ventures領投2270萬美元的這項投資將捐給在OXCCU的牛津大學附屬科學家，OXCCU是一直在尋找飛機發動機中煤油和汽油替代品的公司之一。

OXCCU表示，其可以通過將從工業或發電廠捕獲的二氧化碳與使用可再生電力生產的氫氣相結合來制造燃料。它的突破在于使用鐵基催化劑一步到位，取代了通常需要進行化學反應的更昂貴的兩階段工藝。

兩家公司在一份聲明中表示，以這種方式簡化流程可以降低50%的成本，并減少副產品的產生。

美聯航風險投資公司總裁Michael Leskinen表示，這一尖端解決方案可能是美聯航在不依賴傳統碳抵消方式的情況下，到2050年實現凈零碳排放承諾的一條具有成本效益的途徑。

郝芬 譯自 油氣新聞網

原文如下：

Aramco ,ENI,United Airlines invest in a low-carbon fuel venture

The venture units of oil firms Aramco and Italy's ENI have joined the world's largest passenger carrier United Airlines to invest in British start-up OXCCU's efforts to slash the prohibitively high cost of lower-carbon aviation fuel, the companies said.

Aviation produces around 2 per cent of the world's planet-warming emissions and the sector's own targets to emit no more than can be absorbed by natural sinks like forests or other technologies by 2050 pose a particularly daunting challenge.

The $22.7 million investment, led by US-based investor Clean Energy Ventures, will go to Oxford University-affiliated scientists at OXCCU, one of several companies that have been searching for ways to replace kerosene and gasoline in plane engines.

OXCCU says it can make fuel by combining carbon dioxide captured from industry or power plants with hydrogen made using renewably sourced electricity. Its breakthrough is in using an iron-based catalyst to do this in one step, replacing the pricier two-stage process that is usually needed to bring about the chemical reaction.

Streamlining the process in this way knocks 50 per cent off the capital cost and produces fewer byproducts, the companies said in a statement.

"This cutting-edge solution could be a cost-effective pathway for United to reach our commitment of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, without relying on traditional carbon offsets," said United Airlines Ventures President Michael Leskinen.