Representatives from Brandenburg Technical University (BTU) in Cottbus-Senftenberg, Rolls Royce, BASF, Lufthansa, the German Aerospace Center (DLR), and the federal state of Brandenburg have signed a declaration of intent in the university’s senate hall to investigate the suitability of methanol as aircraft fuel. A competence center for power-based fuels, with 60 employees and a demonstration plant costing €20 million, is to be built in Lusatia, financed by the fund for special projects for structural change. The objective of the competence center is to enhance the efficiency of production plants in such a way as to give methanol a chance against conventional kerosene. At the BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg, Professor Georg Möhlenkamp has been researching such processes for a number of years now. He believes that in 20 years’ time, it will be possible to jet off on holiday CO2-free.

Methanol can be produced by separating water into oxygen and hydrogen using electricity from wind power, for example, and by producing methane from hydrogen and CO2 in the air. Methanol, which can be used as a fuel, can then be produced from this.