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Turning sunlight into fuel: SWISS will be the world's first airline to use sun-to-liquid fuel| SWISS
Lufthansa Group and SWISS have agreed on a strategic partnership with the start-up Synhelion, which was founded in 2016 as a spin-off of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich), to bring solar fuel to market. Synhelion is a pioneer in the production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) from renewable energy sources. Its breakthrough technology uses concentrated solar heat to produce syngas, from which kerosene is subsequently synthesized in standard industrial processes. This "sun-to-liquid" process will make a major contribution to the decarbonization of air travel, as only as much CO2 is emitted during combustion as was previously used for production.
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Synhelion – Turning sunlight into fuel.
Our team-up with Synhelion is founded on our shared vision to make carbon-neutral flying in regular flight operations possible through the use of solar fuel. We are proud that SWISS will be the first airline in the world to fly with solar kerosene. In partnering with Synhelion, we are supporting Swiss innovation and are actively pursuing and promoting the development, the market introduction and the scaling-up of this highly promising technology for producing sustainable fuels.
Dieter Vranckx
CEO, Swiss International Air Lines
Synhelion will build the world's first industrial-scale solar fuel production facility in Jülich (Germany), in 2022. The Lufthansa Group Airline SWISS is to become the first buyer of the solar kerosene produced in 2023. The agreed partnership also includes support from the Lufthansa Group and SWISS for the development of Synhelion's planned commercial fuel plant in Spain.
This cooperation once again underscores the pioneering role of the Lufthansa Group, which has been active in the research, testing and use of SAF for more than ten years and is driving key technologies such as the Sun-to-Liquid process as part of the CleanTech Hub.
The Lufthansa Group CleanTech Hub is proud of this partnership, and is looking forward to further collaboration to get this technology scaled and commercialized.
At our event on June 13, 2022, we presented our CleanTech Hub partner "Synhelion", which converts CO2 and H2O into solar fuel using concentrated solar heat. Among other things, we explained how far the Sun-to-Liquid technology has advanced, what the upcoming milestones are and why solar fuel is carbon neutral.
15.12.2022
SWISS promotes Swiss innovation and invests in Synhelion
SWISS has acquired a financial interest in Swiss-based technology company Synhelion in a further step to help bring solar fuels to market. Synhelion will be using the funds raised by this latest financing round to scale up and commercialize its technology. Alternative fuels such as the solar fuel being developed by Synhelion are essential to the achievement of the aviation sector’s ambitious climate goals.
01.03.2022
SWISS to be the world’s first airline to use Synhelion solar fuel
SWISS and the Lufthansa Group have concluded a strategic collaboration with the Synhelion company to bring its solar aviation fuel to market.
15.05.2020
Flying with sunlight
Lufthansa Group, ETH Zurich and its spin-offs Climeworks and Synhelion plan to cooperate in the field of Sustainable Aviation Fuels
We invite you to explore a selection of our established projects, initiatives, and ambitions
The Lufthansa Group CleanTech Hub is striving for technological excellence to tackle the challenges of climate change
