In recent years a considerable amount of research has been performed to explore the technical, operational and economical feasibility of producing jet fuel from seawater. The benefits to be gained from using jet fuel produced from carbon dioxide and hydrogen available in seawater are the avoidanve of any changes to the existing aviation infrastructure and the mitigation of carbon dioxide emissions from the aircraft by recapturing the CO2 emitted by the aircraft from the ocean. This method critically depends on the practicality and efficiency of hydrogen and carbon dioxide extraction from the ocean. Willauer et al at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory proposed the production of hydrogen from seawater using electrolysers powered by nuclear reactors or ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) plants. Eisaman et al at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) proposed a novel carbon dioxide extraction method from seawater using bipolar membrane electrodialysis (BPMED). Platzer et al proposed the use of sailing ships equipped with hydro-turbines and electrolysers to provide a new source of hydrogen as feedstock for the production of synthetic jet fuel. It is the objective of this lecture to draw attention to the possibility of producing jet fuel from seawater and to assess its potential for transitioning to carbon-neutral aviation.

About the speaker:
Dr. Max F. Platzer received his Doctor of Technical Sciences degree from the Technical University of Vienna, Austria. He joined Wernher von Braun's SATURN space vehicle development team in 1960, moved to the Lockheed-Georgia Research Center in 1966 and to the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, in 1970, where he served as professor of aeronautics and astronautics until 2003. He is currently an adjunct professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering of the University of California Davis. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and, currently, serves as editor of the international review journal "Progress in Aerospace Sciences".