https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210909005196/en/Chevron-Gevo-Announce-Intent-to-Pursue-Sustainable-Aviation-Fuel-Investment So what’s the deal with this stuff? Pros and cons? Is anyone using it on a regular basis? What does it do to engines?
USN and USAF have both experimented with synthetic fuels and USAF flew a C-17 with a 50-50 mixture of JP-8 and synthetic fuel. Germany produced large amounts of synthetic fuel from coal during WW-II when access to petroleum was difficult. The USN is experimenting with producing aviation fuel from sea water, which has a very high carbon content.
With the choices for "greening" aviation being electrification with batteries, cryo hydrogen either with fuel cells or as a turbine fuel and SAF, the obvious choice is SAF although cryo hydrogen has the advantage of being able to use superconducting cables, motors and controllers using the hydrogen as a heat sink. I personally think SAF's are the future of aviation at least in the near term (~2050) due to the "drop in" nature of the fuel.
