Is There A Better Way To Power Airplanes?

MinuteEarth

This video was made in partnership with Bill Gates. To learn more about his work on clean energy, visit https://gatesnot.es/2WDTJ1L It’s hard to replace jet fuel because the alternatives aren’t energetic enough, are too dangerous, or aren’t yet being made at scale. Thanks also to our Patreon patrons https://www.patreon.com/MinuteEarth and our YouTube members. ___________________________________________ To learn more, start your googling with these keywords: Jet fuel - a liquid petroleum fuel with high specific energy and energy density, used in airplane jet engines, made of kerosene with a few additives Specific Energy - how much energy something contains per unit mass Energy Density - how much energy something contains per unit volume Synthetic jet fuel - a jet fuel replacement, typically aiming to have lower life cycle environmental impacts than jet fuel (AKA: sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), alternative jet fuel, renewable aviation fuel, renewable jet fuel, biojet fuel, sustainable alternative fuel) Kerosene - a petroleum product that is the main component of jet fuel (and old fashioned lanterns) ___________________________________________ If you liked this week’s video, you might also like: What you get from a barrel of oil - https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/oil-and-petroleum-products/ Real Engineering: Are Electric Planes Possible? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNvzZfsC13o&feature=youtu.be _________________________________________ Subscribe to MinuteEarth on YouTube: http://goo.gl/EpIDGd Support us on Patreon: https://goo.gl/ZVgLQZ And visit our website: https://www.minuteearth.com/ Say hello on Facebook: http://goo.gl/FpAvo6 And Twitter: http://goo.gl/Y1aWVC And download our videos on itunes: https://goo.gl/sfwS6n ___________________________________________ Credits (and Twitter handles): Script Writer and Narrator: Alex Reich (@alexhreich) Video Illustrators: Ever Salazar and Sarah Berman Video Director: Ever Salazar (@eversalazar) With Contributions From: Henry Reich, Kate Yoshida, Peter Reich, David Goldenberg, Julián Gómez, Arcadi Garcia Rius Music by: Nathaniel Schroeder: http://www.soundcloud.com/drschroeder ___________________________________________ References: ATAG. Nov 2017. Beginner’s Guide to Sustainable Aviation Fuel, Edition 3. https://bit.ly/2AcJLLW Accessed Jan 2020. ATAG. “Producing sustainable aviation fuel” https://bit.ly/3gncnmh Accessed Jan 2020 Burton, Freya. Personal communication, Feb 2020 Caldeira, K. Personal communication, Feb 2020 Cey, E., et al. 2019. Energy Education. “Oil formation.” https://bit.ly/3ej8r3Y Accessed Jan 2020 Chuck, C. (Ed.). 2016. Biofuels for aviation: feedstocks, technology and implementation. Academic Press Goldmann, A., et al. 2018. A study on electrofuels in aviation. Energies, 11(2), 392. https://bit.ly/2AfRUis Hileman, J. I., & Stratton, R. W. 2014. Alternative jet fuel feasibility. Transport Policy, 34, 52-62. https://bit.ly/2X8832H IATA. May 2019. “Sustainable Aviation Fuels Fact sheet.” https://bit.ly/2ZO2BDX Accessed Jan 2020 IATA. December 2019. "Fuel Fact Sheet." https://bit.ly/3dcJ0Ry Accessed March 2020 Le Feuvre, P. 18 March 2019. Are aviation biofuels ready for take off? https://bit.ly/2XA5R2T Lehtveer, M., Brynolf, S., & Grahn, M. 2019. What Future for Electrofuels in Transport? Analysis of Cost Competitiveness in Global Climate Mitigation. Environmental science & technology, 53(3), 1690-1697. https://bit.ly/3d96QgX McKinsey. Energy Resources. https://bit.ly/2M7pYzW Accessed December 2019. Monroe Aerospace. 29 April 2019. Why Airplanes Use Kerosene Rather Than Plain Gasoline for Fuel. https://bit.ly/3d8FpnD Searle, S. 15 Nov 2018. Decarbonizing aviation through low-carbon fuels will be beyond difficult. https://bit.ly/2zAN1kc Shaw, R.J. 12 June 2014. "How does a jet engine work?" https://go.nasa.gov/2XOwG3F Accessed Jan 2020 Sindreu, J. 10 Jan 2020. The Promise of Sustainable Aviation Fuel Isn’t for Today. https://on.wsj.com/3gthykv Wikipedia. "Nuclear Powered Aircraft” https://bit.ly/2ZGECGw Accessed Jan 2020. Thanks also to Steve Thorne and Erik Pieh. References for calculations https://bit.ly/3c9Lvmc https://bit.ly/2yC04kS https://bit.ly/2X5OAPV https://bit.ly/2zDqoLT https://bit.ly/3gw1L4n https://bit.ly/2TLZQPo https://bit.ly/2TGOV9B https://bit.ly/2TLG86r https://bit.ly/2ZHdZkN https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=jet+fuel https://www.toyota.com/corolla/features/capacities/1882/1863/1856 https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/how-much-does-gasoline-weigh.html https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/Transatlantic_Fuel_Efficiency_Ranking_20180912.pdf https://www.transtats.bts.gov/Distance.asp?pn=0 https://physics.info/energy-chemical/ https://www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/hydrogen-storage https://neutrium.net/properties/specific-energy-and-energy-density-of-fuels/