Page 36 - The STAT Trade Times September 2022 Issue

interview

SAF DEMAND IS MUCH

HIGHER THAN WHAT IS

CURRENTLY ON OFFER

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), a tipping point for Sustainable
Aviation Fuel (SAF) will be when it powers around 2% of all flights. The aviation body goes on to
say that this is a goal that may see fruition by 2025. However, there is one catch. IATA states that
there is an urgent ramp-up needed in SAF production. To reach this goal, IATA recommends that
SAF production needs to be up to 7 billion litres a year in 2025.
Or in other words, SAF needs to scale, and fast.
In light of this, The STAT Trade Times caught up with Carmen Murer, the Head of Corporate
Communications at Zurich-based Synhelion. The firm has been in the news recently for its
breakthrough production of syngas – one of the steps in the thermochemical reaction process
necessary for the production of its solar fuel techology. In this interview, Murer unravels the
challenges of SAF production, particularly when it comes to high demand and little supply.
Read on to find out more about Synhelion’s journey and what lies ahead.
Manjula Nair
The mirror field concentrates the solar
radiation onto the DLR multi-focus solar
tower (right), where Synhelion’s solar
receiver can be seen brightly illuminated

Photo: Synhelion

34 | SEPTEMBER 2022 www.stattimes.com