Chemists at Firefly Green Fuels in Gloucestershire, England, have turned human waste into kerosene. It turns out that human waste is nearly identical to standard fossil jet fuel, and nothing is more abundant than poo. Firefly’s fuel is claimed to have a 90% lower carbon footprint than standard jet fuel. Across the world, flying contributes to around 2% of global carbon emissions, which contribute to climate change. Taking carbon out of aviation is one of the hardest challenges, but electric passenger planes are decades away. So, finding greener ways to make kerosene without using fossil fuels has become a global gold rush. Firefly Green Fuels’ product looks like oil — thick, black, gloopy — but the good news is that it behaves like crude oil chemically. Their process has successfully turned poo into power. The bio-kerosene is now being tested independently at the Institute of Combustion Technology at the German Aerospace Center, working with Washington State University.
