Liepāja Plans to Build Fuel Factory That Will Turn Air into Gasoline - Rīga is Jealous

While Rīga is still trying to figure out how to make something useful from smog, Liepāja is already planning to build a factory that will turn air into aviation fuel. The company "Norsaf" has promised to invest 650 million euros to create a sustainable aviation fuel plant that, using bioethanol, green hydrogen and CO2, will produce fuel for airplanes.

As local hothead Jānis from Pulvera Street says: "Well, finally someone understood that our air is so clean you can make fuel from it! In Rīga, from their air you could at most make cough syrup." True, because while people in the capital use masks for breathing, in Liepāja our atmosphere is so high-quality that we can sell it to airlines.

A public discussion will take place on March 4th at Liepāja Technical College, where residents can learn exactly how their inhaled air will become an export product. It's expected that by 2030 the new factory will produce 100,000 tons of fuel annually, making Liepāja the largest SAF plant in Northern Europe. But what is SAF? "Sustainable Aviation Fuel" - simply put, our air packaged in pretty bottles for airplanes.

Meanwhile, Rīga City Council is still thinking about how to extract at least some energy-efficient product from their traffic jams. But as Marija, who lives in Karosta, says: "We've long known that our air is premium class. Now at least they'll pay for it too!" And that's exactly it - while elsewhere air is free, in Liepāja it's becoming an export product.