A catalyst for change: CARE-O-SENE event on decarbonising aviation attracts global attention

 

What is the future of flying? What innovations are there in the field of clean aviation technology? These and many other questions were discussed on 15 October 2024 at the CARE-O-SENE event "Innovate to Elevate: A Global Collaboration for Decarbonising Aviation". With nearly 200 participants both onsite at the Helmholtz Zentrum in Berlin and online, the hybrid format highlighted the growing global commitment to cleaner skies.

Game-changer sustainable aviation fuel

The event kicked off with virtual opening remarks from Till Mansmann, Innovation Commissioner for Green Hydrogen at the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

A dive into CARE-O-SENE's advances in SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel) catalyst research was presented by Denzil Moodley, CARE-O-SENE Key Researcher and Senior Scientist Fischer Tropsch at Sasol. One of his key messages emphasised the need to break down barriers – geographical and institutional – to accelerate innovations that can make SAF not only viable, but scalable and cost effective.

SAF plays a critical role in the decarbonisation strategy of DHL, one of the world's leading logistics providers, which was outlined by Volker Ratzmann, EVP of Corporate Public Policy & Regulation Management at DHL. He also pointed out a crucial hurdle: The regulatory uncertainty of producing SAF at scale, a challenge that needs to be addressed to accelerate the industry's green transformation.

Dynamic panel discussion: navigating challenges together

The highlight of the event was a panel discussion with experts from industry and research institutions. The panel explored how global collaboration can help overcome the biggest barriers to SAF adoption, especially in its early stages. Key voices included Kerstin Annassi of Forschungszentrum Jülich, Michael Claeys of the University of Cape Town, Silke Hoppe of Sasol International Chemicals and Catalina Jimenez, – Group Leader, Energy Materials In-Situ Laboratory (EMIL), HZB. The panel agreed that international partnerships, strong government support and collaborative research are critical to decarbonising aviation. But without targeted funding and regulatory support, these advances may struggle to take off. Missed the event? You can catch the full recording here and learn how collaboration between the right partner is shaping the future of flight.