In a corner of France, a new startup called Aerleum is working on something that sounds almost like science fiction: extracting carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air or industrial processes and transforming it into methanol, a fuel that could be used in ships or even turned into jet fuel.
This idea is not new. Over the past decade, many companies have been developing technologies to capture CO2 and give it a second life as a feedstock for sustainable fuels. However, until now, the big hurdle has been turning those ideas into viable solutions both technically and economically.
Aerleum claims to have an ace up its sleeve. According to the company, its technology uses a reactor with a spongy material capable of efficiently absorbing CO2. In just over an hour, this system manages to convert the captured gas into methanol, a process that, if scaled properly, could represent a significant advance in the transition to cleaner fuels.
To prove their process works, they are building a pilot station that will produce about 3,800 liters of methanol per month. But their real ambition is much bigger: to build a plant capable of generating 300,000 liters of fuel per year by 2030, and to do so at a price competitive with kerosene.
Methanol and other sustainable fuels are gaining prominence in sectors such as shipping and aviation. These sectors are particularly difficult to decarbonize because of the energy density their fuels require. In the case of aviation, kerosene remains the standard, but its environmental impact is considerable.
Today, sustainable aviation fuels cost up to ten times more than kerosene, making them economically unviable for widespread use. Aerleum's goal of reducing these costs to the level of conventional kerosene is ambitious, but also essential if we want these technologies to be adopted on a massive scale.
While Aerleum’s proposal sounds promising, they are not alone in this race. Many other startups and established companies are developing similar technologies with the hope of capturing and reusing CO2 in massive quantities. Some have impressive goals, such as Climeworks’ to remove millions of tons of CO2 per year by the end of this decade.
When we zoom out, however, we realize that these numbers, while impressive, are just a drop in the ocean of the climate problem. According to expert estimates, to mitigate the worst effects of climate change, we would need to capture 10 trillion tons of CO2 per year by 2050. This number is almost inconceivable and reminds us of the magnitude of the challenge we face.
It’s easy to get excited about projects like Aerleum’s. They are innovative, ambitious, and offer a technological solution to the problem of climate change. But there is an uncomfortable truth that we cannot ignore: no future technology will be able to fully offset the need to reduce emissions today.
The focus on technological solutions often acts as a distraction. It allows us to postpone difficult decisions under the promise of a bright future in which all our problems will be solved by innovation. We throw the “ball” forward to 2030 or 2050, while continuing with business as usual, as if time were on our side.
This attitude is not only clumsy, but dangerous. We are running out of time to reverse the worst effects of climate change, and every ton of CO2 we emit today will be an extra burden for future generations.
A light at the end of the tunnel or wishful thinking?
Back to Aerleum, their aim to produce methanol cheaply and in large quantities is certainly worthy of admiration. If they manage to keep their promises, they deserve a big “chapeau”, as the French would say. But the reality is that, even if they succeed, these types of solutions will only be one piece of the puzzle.
We need technologies to capture and reuse CO2, but we also need stricter policies to reduce emissions at source. And above all, we need a profound change in how we conceive growth and progress. We cannot continue to bet everything on future solutions while we continue to pollute without restraint.
The case of Aerleum is a reminder that technological solutions are essential, but not enough. It is admirable that companies like this are working to face one of the greatest challenges of our era. But we cannot sit back and wait.
The only way to avoid a climate disaster is to drastically reduce our emissions now, not in 2030 or 2050. The future of our planet depends on us stopping seeing sustainability as a problem that can be solved only with technology, and starting to treat it as an urgent priority that requires immediate changes in how we live, produce and consume.
And this is what almost no one wants to do. We throw the “ball” towards the year 2030 or 2050 to continue to deceive ourselves with a future technological solution, and thus let time pass while we dedicate ourselves to our usual business.
How clumsy and short-sighted we are!!!
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