In a building on the edge of a business park outside Sheffield, researcher Ihab Ahmed is preparing to fire up a small jet engine.
Originally used as an auxiliary power unit for a commercial airliner, it has been turned into a testbed for new fuels developed in a laboratory next door.
The arrangement is a centrepiece of Sheffield University’s Sustainable Fuels Innovation Centre (SAF-IC), a research facility set up to allow synthetic fuels to be prepared and evaluated on a small scale, before being put into large scale production.
On a bank of computer screens in a nearby control room, Ihab can monitor the engine as it starts with a burst of flame and powers up.
Sensors tell him what the engine is doing in real time – and allow the exhaust gases to be continually analysed.
Sustainable fuels are synthetic alternatives to fossil fuels, made from renewable sources.
These can include waste cooking oils, vegetable fats and agricultural waste, as well as captured carbon dioxide.
The advantage of burning fuels like these is that it does not add to the overall load of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
The carbon emitted has only recently been removed, either by plants or by chemical processes. By contrast, burning fossil fuels releases carbon that has been stored in the earth for millions of years.
“From an environmental perspective, it’s day and night,” Mr Ahmed explains.
“In principle, the CO2 should be a net zero, so there is no more carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere, but another benefit is the non-CO2 part of things.
“For example, it reduces the particulates or smoke that comes out of the engine, which can affect your lungs, as well as contributing to the
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