AFS’s mission to create a sustainable, carbon neutral alternative to fossil fuels

The AFS mission

Energy security and ambitious carbon reduction targets drive demand for drop in, carbon-neutral and sustainable fuels. This demand is particularly strong in our initial niche markets, especially motorsports.

AFS fuels using renewable energy, provide an appropriate response to carbon-induced climate change and mitigate the effects of the energy descent from the fossil oil era.  As fossil fuels suffer supply constraints, declining availability, and rise rapidly in cost, opportunities for AFS will increase.

Relationships with partners across the sustainable energy supply chain will help to develop markets with particularly strong initial opportunity.

To read more about AFS’s mission to create sustainable, carbon neutral fuels for future generations, visit the AFS ‘sustainable fuels from renewable electricity’ Mission page

Air Fuel Synthesis recognises that:

1) Demand for carbon-emissions-reducing transport technologies will grow as climate change demands and legislation put pressure on existing systems. New technologies must prove themselves in today’s markets before they will be adopted widely.

2) Conventional oil supplies are depleting rapidly with global 'Peak Oil' having already occurred.

3) Unconventional oil from shale, tar sands, gas-to-liquids, coal-to-liquids and biomass-to-liquids will not be sufficient to meet the shortfall in transport fuels. Peak coal and peak gas are not far behind peak oil.

4) Biofuels will not be available in sufficient quantities to meet the shortfall in transport fuels - The UK in particular cannot grow enough biofuels for its need.

5) Electric and hydrogen-fuelled vehicles will have a role in the low-carbon future but the range of these vehicles will be too short for aviation, long-distance road freight and international shipping.

6) The shift to electric and hydrogen technologies will take a long time; requiring major changes to energy supply infrastructures and will be very expensive. The batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) in particular will be prohibitively expensive except for short-range operation.

7) The release of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels is causing dangerous climate change. The release of carbon dioxide must therefore be drastically reduced. The conversion of coal to liquid fuels is particularly disadvantageous because of conversion inefficiencies and the high carbon content of coal. Approximately 3 molecules of carbon dioxide are produced for every atom of carbon contained in the fuel produced.

8) Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is expensive and energy intensive; the risk of carbon dioxide release from CCS is considerable; locations for permanent storage of carbon dioxide would quickly become too full to use and carbon capture and use (CCU) makes better economic sense.

9) Many remote locations in the world have large-scale, affordable renewable energy resources but connection of renewable energy generation to the electricity grid is uneconomic. These locations can benefit from AFS plants manufacturing sustainable liquid fuels. In the UK, the wind power resource will be particularly suitable for AFS.