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Boeing signs alternative fuel deal with U.S. startup

by Associated Press   

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The aerospace giant has signed a deal with a Los Angeles-based startup to buy hydrogen that will be produced by facilities designed to cleanse seawater of carbon dioxide.

As the aviation industry seeks to cut its carbon footprint, Boeing has just signed a deal to help its quest for a sustainable jet fuel, and it’s tied to an unlikely source: the ocean.

The aerospace giant has signed a deal with a Los Angeles-based startup to buy hydrogen that will be produced by facilities designed to cleanse seawater of carbon dioxide so the ocean can absorb more of that greenhouse gas contributing to global warming.

By absorbing 30% of carbon dioxide emissions since the Industrial Revolution, the ocean has acted as a giant carbon sink and been a crucial buffer in protecting people from even worse effects of early climate change.

Equatic said Boeing has agreed to pre-purchase the hydrogen, which will be produced when it employs the carbon-removal system — developed by University of California Los Angeles engineering faculty — at facilities at the port of Los Angeles and Singapore. It is slated to be up and running in 2025. Researchers have been testing the system at demonstration sites in both locations.

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The green hydrogen could then be used as a component in sustainable aviation fuel. Aviation currently accounts for about 2.5% of worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide.

Equatic’s Chief Operating Officer Edward Sanders acknowledged that Boeing’s backing is a huge boost for an initiative that is just getting off the ground.

“With the deal with Boeing, they recognize that hydrogen will be useful for them,” he said. “And we’ve had some very encouraging conversations with other industries who also need hydrogen who have plans to do it through the carbon-neutral generation of green hydrogen.”

Equatic said it will remove 62,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide for Boeing and supply the aerospace company with 2,100 metric tons of hydrogen under its five-year agreement. The companies declined to provide details about how much revenue would be generated or other details of the deal.

Sheila Remes, Boeing’s vice president of environmental sustainability, said in a statement that “reaching aviation’s sustainability goals will require a multi-faceted approach and Boeing sees significant opportunity in Equatic’s technology.”

Equatic’s process sends an electrical charge through seawater that then sets off a series of chemical reactions that trap the greenhouse gas into a solid mineral, while also producing hydrogen. The seawater is then returned to the ocean and can pull more carbon dioxide out of the air, while the solid mineral, which contains calcium carbonate, can then settle to the sea floor.

Revenue from selling hydrogen, as well as carbon credits companies can claim to balance out their pollution, will be applied toward Equatic’s plans to open facilities.

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