Things are getting serious at the Swiss start-up Synhelion: The German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) is funding the solar fuel pioneer together with other partners with around 4.2 million francs. The money is intended for the construction of the world’s first solar fuel production facility in Jülich, Germany.
This brings the company’s goal from Lugano to half of the Swiss aircraft fleet with artificially generated CO by 20302-Operating neutral kerosene, a little closer. “The funding from the BMWi is recognition of the future potential of our technology. It confirms our potential for economic success and supports our development on the way to the economical supply of our solar fuels ”, says Synhelion CEO Gianluca Ambrosetti.
Who is Synhelion?
Synhelion was created in 2016 as a spin-off at ETH Zurich. Objective: The development and marketing of sustainable synthetic fuels from solar energy that can be used in conventional internal combustion engines or jet engines. Instead of using electric drives with expensive batteries, the existing vehicle fleet could use CO2-become neutral and use today’s gas station infrastructure.
Synhelion wants to be able to produce 700,000 tons of synthetic fuel per year by 2030 – enough to cover half of the Swiss aircraft fleet with CO2– operate neutrally. To this end, the company is already working with Swiss and Zurich Airport, among others.
Synhelion was created in 2016 as a spin-off at ETH Zurich. Objective: The development and marketing of sustainable synthetic fuels from solar energy that can be used in conventional internal combustion engines or jet engines. Instead of using electric drives with expensive batteries, the existing vehicle fleet could use CO2-become neutral and use today’s gas station infrastructure.
Synhelion wants to be able to produce 700,000 tons of synthetic fuel per year by 2030 – enough to cover half of the Swiss aircraft fleet with CO2– operate neutrally. To this end, the company is already working with Swiss and Zurich Airport, among others.
Synhelion has developed a process that uses solar energy concentrated in mirrors to generate process heat of up to 1000 degrees Celsius for the production of so-called synfuels. This synthetic fuel is produced with CO2 generated from the ambient air and thus does not emit any additional fossil CO during combustion, unlike petrol and diesel2 free. The company is developing the necessary heat storage together with Empa.
Engines and infrastructure can still be used
Synhelion plans to produce kerosene and gasoline. The fuels can be burned in conventional engines and aircraft engines and can thus contribute to CO2– Achieve neutral mobility even in old vehicles and aircraft. The production facility in Jülich is expected to start in two years. Synhelion had already proven that the process works in a test facility at ETH Zurich in 2019. The start-up is working with the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Jülich Solar Institute at the Aachen University of Applied Sciences (SIJ) to commercialize the fuels.
In parallel to the megatrend of electromobility, the automotive industry is now also involved in the development of Synfuels. Porsche, for example, recently gave the go-ahead for a production facility in Chile. As the largest Swiss car importer, Amag is also interested and is planning to buy company shares in Synhelion. Synthetic fuels could, for example, also be used in classic vintage cars or current plug-in hybrids to reduce the greenhouse gas CO2 contribute.