Industry Insights with Mohamed Pourkashanian OBE, University of Sheffield Energy Institute – Sustainability Beyond CO2
Mohamed Pourkashanian, OBE
Director for the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Innovation Centre
-
University of Sheffield Energy Institute
Mohamed Pourkashanian, OBE, the Director for the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Innovation Centre at the University of Sheffield Energy Institute, and a member of the Sustainable Aviation Futures EU Congress advisory board gives a sneak peek at some of the non-CO2 topics up for discussion at the upcoming Sustainable Aviation Futures EU Congress (May 21-23), and explains how the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Innovation Centre is innovating our understanding of SAF’s use in decarbonisation and beyond.
Could you share a brief background about yourself?
I'm a professor at the University of Sheffield. My area of research includes Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF). I have worked in this area for many years, and my area of focus is mainly on the production of Sustainable Aviation Fuels. That's power to liquid, as well as the impact of aromatics on non-CO2 emissions, lifecycle analysis, and a technical mix.
One of the recent projects that I have been involved with was Flight100. That's the first 100% SAF transatlantic flight where my group worked on investigating the impact of the fuel that was used on that flight on non-CO2 emissions. And it was a very interesting result that came through, but more importantly, we showed the policymakers that the technology is there to adopt SAF as a part of decarbonisation.
What are the goals of the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Innovation Centre, and what is some of the research you are currently working on?
Just to give you some background information on the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Innovation Centre. This is a national facility funded by the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, and European infrastructure funding, and overall it provides a platform for industry and academics to work together to accelerate the decarbonisation of the aviation sector.
Within that centre, we produce Sustainable Aviation Fuels: around 200 litres a day. But it's a unique centre because it not only produces aviation fuel, but also produces the feedstock at the same site; where we produce green hydrogen, as well as capturing CO2 from the air or from biomass combustion. And, once the SAF is produced, we also look at the performance of that used in aircraft engines, and also characterize the fuel. The Sustainable Aviation Fuels Innovation Centre is also part of the UK SAF Clearing House, which Sheffield University hosts.
A panel discussion you are joining at Sustainable Aviation Futures will aim to demystify and explain the Non-CO2 impact of the aviation industry. Could you provide a brief explanation of what Non-CO2 means for the aviation industry and why it has become so important recently?
Non-CO2 impact in the aviation industry refers to the effect beyond the carbon dioxide emissions. So, while CO2 is a major contributor to climate change, other pollutants produced by aircraft also play a significant role. And just to give you an example, non-CO2 effects are responsible for about two thirds of the climate impacts of aviation.
So, it is very important to look at. And effective radiative forcing from some of the non-CO2 impact is quite significant, therefore, it is an area of significant importance. Because once we decarbonise the fuel by moving into hydrogen or Sustainable Aviation Fuels, we still have to deal with the non-CO2 emission.
What do I mean by non-CO2 emissions: we’re talking about diverse pollutants, mainly in addition to the CO2; we have aircraft emitting NOx; and the water vapor if it is hydrogen or at high altitude; as well as of course, the particulate that’s produced from the combustion process of SAF.
And it is a very interesting and challenging area for research because the non-CO2 impact is also strongly dependent on the emission location, at high altitude for example, or cruise altitude, emission times, and also the weather conditions, whether it is a daytime or nighttime. All of these have an impact on the non-CO2 emissions.
Particulate emissions, again a very interesting area, because experimental data has shown clearly that particle size is affected by the type of fuels. And therefore, we have to understand how the SAF will have an impact on the emissions: on the particle size and on particle number density. And these have all become very important issues.
So, in summary, the understanding and mitigation of the non-CO2 impacts are crucial for a more sustainable aviation industry. And I'm really looking forward to a panel discussion on non-CO2 impact in our next Sustainable Aviation Futures EU Congress in Amsterdam.
Why should people attend the Sustainable Aviation Futures EU Congress, and what are you looking to get out of the Sustainable Aviation Futures congress?
It's a really unique opportunity for the aviation sector, industrial sector, and policymakers to come together to shape the future of the Sustainable Aviation sector.
Where I see the benefit from these sorts of Congress, especially from the sustainable aviation Futures EU Congress in Amsterdam, is that we wouldn't be able to exchange the knowledge, and really the decarbonisation of the aviation sector is very much multidisciplinary. And you have that communication and engagement from different sectors, not only from the academics but also from industry: people who are developing fuels, people who are using fuels, OEMs, policymakers, to work together as a part of that decarbonisation strategy.
And I believe this sort of Congress has a big impact on the policymakers because they’ll understand the challenges that fuel producers are facing, challenges on the certifications of these fuels, and therefore they can taking these into consideration when they are dealing with mandates, and future policy strategy, and including subsidies, and all the other areas of interest.
More importantly, I think this conference will provide networking which is very important at this moment, and that will be crucial for future decarbonisation: transferring the knowledge, open access to data in between the industry, academics and policymakers. These are all very important parts of the strategy to accelerate the decarbonisation of the aviation sector.