Rolls-Royce backs green fuel in Brandenburg

Backed by local government, the aim is to set up a power-to-x competence centre at the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg and to build a demonstration plant for the production of synthetic fuels using electric power generated in photovoltaic and wind power plants.

“Power-to-x fuels not only replace fossil fuels, they can also be easily stored and transported,” explained Dr Petar Pelemis, head of strategy and product management at the Rolls-Royce power systems business. “With such fuels, we will be able to provide propulsion and power generation on a CO2 neutral basis, as we outlined in our Green and High-Tech programme under the heading decarbonisation.”

Operating a future power-to-x demonstration plant is a way of garnering information on the use of synthetic fuels for mobility on land, water and in the air, and on the generation of heat and power, and what the carbon footprint of such a process might look like.

Other signatories to the letter of intent include the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the chemical company BASF, the Lufthansa Group and the electrolysis specialist Sunfire.