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Sasol of South Africa has made liquid fuels via the Fischer-Tropsch process for decades. The synthesis gas comes from coal or natural gas. Clean synthesis gas f

Sasol of South Africa has made liquid fuels via the Fischer-Tropsch process for decades. The synthesis gas comes from coal or natural gas. Clean synthesis gas from water, CO2, and clean electricity should be a drop-in replacement for fossil derived syngas. But it's relatively expensive to make liquid fuels this way even when starting with cheap coal. I only expect synfuels to be used for performance critical applications and niches like keeping collectible classic cars running.

dredmorbius 5y ago
Since the 1950s. https://www.sasol.com/media-centre/media-releases/sasol-produces-15-billion-barrels-synthetic-fuel-coal-fifty-years https://www.sasol.com/media-centre/media-releases/sasol-prod...
bobthepanda 5y ago
Yup. For the Air Force, their particular need is to avoid billions of dollars in contractor expense for reliably supplying fuel to remote bases in hostile territory.
- kwere 5y ago
  shouldnt itself manage fuel logistic or it is contracted away?
  - pstrateman 5y ago
    regardless of who is doing the logistics it's expensive. synthesizing fuel also means nuclear powered aircraft carriers would be vastly more self sufficient
- spockz 5y ago
  I read elsewhere on hacker news that the us military runs through 20 million barrels of fuel per day . I can imagine there is a great desire to be less dependent on suppliers both in terms of quantity and logistics. Imagine a nuclear powered aircraft carrier being able to generate fuel for its planes and support ships.
  - nradov 5y ago
    Yes the US Navy has been researching synthesizing aviation fuel onboard nuclear powered carriers since at least 2013. The goal is to reduce fleet dependence on vulnerable tankers. https://www.autoevolution.com/news/us-navy-aircraft-carriers-could-soon-use-innovative-fuel-made-from-seawater-161519.html https://www.autoevolution.com/news/us-navy-aircraft-carriers... https://www.autoevolution.com/news/us-navy-aircraft-carriers-could-soon-use-innovative-fuel-made-from-seawater-161519.html https://www.autoevolution.com/news/us-navy-aircraft-carriers...
    - pm90 5y ago
      Amazing. At what point do these carriers become totally self sufficient.
      - tastyfreeze 5y ago
        When they can make food from waste.
        Lev1a 5y ago
        - water filtration/desalination - Maybe in the future they could use fusion reactors for power, synthesizing Deuterium and/or Tritium to enhance their endurance (maybe indefinitely?) - make the carrier (with minimal crew) and the planes into drones (AFAIK already in research/testing) since even if the material could be at sea forever the people could not endure and also many probably wouldn't sign up for such a job
        yencabulator 5y ago
        > - water filtration/desalination My understanding is the submarines have been doing that for a very, very long time. No challenge there. Here's a random article from 2008 saying "decades": https://www.eastvalleytribune.com/opinion/nuclear-desalination-isn-t-a-wild-idea-subs-have-been-doing-it-for-decades/article_764caf0d-b2e4-580b-a0d8-315627124103.html https://www.eastvalleytribune.com/opinion/nuclear-desalinati...

dredmorbius 5y ago

Since the 1950s. https://www.sasol.com/media-centre/media-releases/sasol-produces-15-billion-barrels-synthetic-fuel-coal-fifty-years https://www.sasol.com/media-centre/media-releases/sasol-prod...

bobthepanda 5y ago

Yup. For the Air Force, their particular need is to avoid billions of dollars in contractor expense for reliably supplying fuel to remote bases in hostile territory.

kwere 5y ago
shouldnt itself manage fuel logistic or it is contracted away?
- pstrateman 5y ago
  regardless of who is doing the logistics it's expensive. synthesizing fuel also means nuclear powered aircraft carriers would be vastly more self sufficient
spockz 5y ago
I read elsewhere on hacker news that the us military runs through 20 million barrels of fuel per day . I can imagine there is a great desire to be less dependent on suppliers both in terms of quantity and logistics. Imagine a nuclear powered aircraft carrier being able to generate fuel for its planes and support ships.
- nradov 5y ago
  Yes the US Navy has been researching synthesizing aviation fuel onboard nuclear powered carriers since at least 2013. The goal is to reduce fleet dependence on vulnerable tankers. https://www.autoevolution.com/news/us-navy-aircraft-carriers-could-soon-use-innovative-fuel-made-from-seawater-161519.html https://www.autoevolution.com/news/us-navy-aircraft-carriers... https://www.autoevolution.com/news/us-navy-aircraft-carriers-could-soon-use-innovative-fuel-made-from-seawater-161519.html https://www.autoevolution.com/news/us-navy-aircraft-carriers...
  - pm90 5y ago
    Amazing. At what point do these carriers become totally self sufficient.
    - tastyfreeze 5y ago
      When they can make food from waste.
      - Lev1a 5y ago
        - water filtration/desalination - Maybe in the future they could use fusion reactors for power, synthesizing Deuterium and/or Tritium to enhance their endurance (maybe indefinitely?) - make the carrier (with minimal crew) and the planes into drones (AFAIK already in research/testing) since even if the material could be at sea forever the people could not endure and also many probably wouldn't sign up for such a job
        yencabulator 5y ago
        > - water filtration/desalination My understanding is the submarines have been doing that for a very, very long time. No challenge there. Here's a random article from 2008 saying "decades": https://www.eastvalleytribune.com/opinion/nuclear-desalination-isn-t-a-wild-idea-subs-have-been-doing-it-for-decades/article_764caf0d-b2e4-580b-a0d8-315627124103.html https://www.eastvalleytribune.com/opinion/nuclear-desalinati...