The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld complaints from five listeners to a radio ad broadcast just prior to Virgin Atlantic’s 100% SAF flight – dubbed Flight 100 – from London Heathrow to New York JFK on 28 November 2023. The complainants said the claim “100% sustainable aviation fuel” gave a misleading impression of the fuel’s environmental impact and challenged whether it could be substantiated. In a lengthy ruling, the ASA acknowledged the flight was to further research and understand the technical feasibility of using 100% SAF when current standards allowed only for a maximum blend of 50%, and acknowledged SAF was a universally recognised term, used by governments as well as industry. However, it said, a significant proportion of listeners would understand the “100% SAF” claim to mean the fuel used was “100% sustainable”, adding “the meaning of all terms used must be clear to consumers”.

Flight 100 was the result of a competition won by Virgin Atlantic that was run by the UK Department for Transport to “support industry to achieve the first net zero transatlantic flight on an aircraft using 100% sustainable aviation fuel within one year.”

According the ASA ruling, Virgin said an element of its competition bid was the intention that the flight would improve transparency and understanding around SAF and its environmental impacts for both the wider industry and the public. Consumers, they believed, would understand the fuel was made from sustainable sources, rather than being fossil fuel based.

“The ad did not claim that the fuel was 100% sustainable, nor did it give a misleading impression about the absolute or relative environmental nature, impact or credentials of sustainable aviation fuel (as compared to other aviation fuel). Rather, it factually described how the flight was powered exclusively by sustainable aviation fuel,” the ruling quotes Virgin’s response to the ASA.

After receiving notification from the ASA about the complaints, Virgin undertook a consumer survey to see what people understood from the ad. The airline claimed that overall, most listeners considered it easy to understand and the majority (68%) understood from the ad that SAF was better for the environment than traditional jet fuel, but that it was not without any adverse impact.

“Even if relevant information had been omitted from the ad, it was not ‘material’ information as referenced in the [the ASA’s BCAP] Code: that was information that consumers needed in context to make informed decisions about whether or how to buy a product or service,” said Virgin. “The ad did not advertise Virgin Atlantic’s products or services.”

In a further survey it had conducted since the ASA notification, Virgin identified that sustainability factors influenced only around 1.5% of consumer’s overall choice about long-haul airlines.

Upholding the complaints, the ASA said the survey confirmed the “limited knowledge and lack of clarity amongst consumers about the environmental impact of sustainable aviation fuel, both in general and specifically after listening to the ad.”

It added: “We considered most consumers were likely to be aware that aviation was a high carbon-emitting sector, due largely to its use of fossil derived aviation fuels, and would understand from the term sustainable aviation fuel that it had a less harmful impact on the environment than fossil derived aviation fuels. However, they were unlikely to be aware of the extent to which fuels described as sustainable aviation fuel still had negative environmental impacts, and in what ways. Those listeners who interpreted the claim “100% sustainable aviation fuel” to mean that the fuel was 100% sustainable were likely to expect that it had no negative environmental impacts at all.

“We therefore considered that in the absence information in the ad which explained that sustainable aviation fuel produced reduced, but still significant, emissions over its full lifecycle, including in-flight emissions, and which explained the ways in which the fuel otherwise significantly adversely impacted the environment, a significant proportion of listeners were likely to overestimate its environmental benefits.”

The ASA acknowledged the ad specifically highlighted Flight 100, which was a non-commercial flight for which listeners could not purchase tickets, but who could still build an overall impression that Virgin was committed to a “pioneering and challenging” role in working towards achieving a reduction in the environmental impact of aviation and that many listeners would seek out airlines that were taking such action.

“The ad specifically highlighted the use of sustainable aviation fuel in Flight 100 – a method by which a reduction in environmental impact could be achieved. We therefore considered that information about its limitations in that regard constituted material information that would have an impact on the transactional decisions of those listeners.

“We therefore concluded that the unqualified claim “100% sustainable aviation fuel” was misleading. The ad breached BCAP Code rules 3.1 and 3.2 (Misleading advertising), 9.2, 9.3 and 9.5 (Environmental claims).”

Responding to the findings, a Virgin Atlantic spokesperson told GreenAir: “While we are disappointed that the ASA has ruled in favour of a small number of complaints, we remain committed to open, accurate and transparent engagement on the challenge of decarbonisation.

“We’re committed to achieving net zero by 2050 and key to this will be using sustainable aviation fuel, which is one of the most immediate levers to decarbonising long-haul aviation. Flight 100 proved that SAF is a safe, 100% drop-in replacement for fossil fuel and while 100% adoption across every flight may be decades away, we demonstrated the radical collaboration required to drive increased production, supply and uptake in the UK.

“SAF is a term used globally by industry and governments for fossil-alternative aviation fuels that adhere to specific sustainability criteria. The radio advert for Flight 100 used SAF, and other factually accurate wording, to share that the flight would be operated as a single, non-commercial flight using 100% SAF.”

Virgin Atlantic is not the only airline to have been adjudged recently to have breached the UK’s ASA code on environmental claims. Last December, Air France, Lufthansa and Etihad Airways were ruled to have given a “misleading impression” of their environmental impact in separate advertisements, following intelligence gathering by ASA’s Active Ad Monitoring system.

In the case of Etihad, a paid-for Google ad used the words “Total peace of mind” alongside the words “Environmental advocacy”, which the ASA said could be understood by consumers to mean the airline actively worked to protect the environment and, consequently, consumers could use their services with “total peace of mind”, and was a misleading impression. Upon receiving notification of the ASA complaint, Etihad removed all references to “Environmental advocacy” from Google search ads delivered in the UK. The ASA also ruled against Etihad in April 2023 over the use of the words “sustainable aviation” in a Facebook ad, which it said the term would be understood in the aviation industry but not necessarily by the general public, to which the ad was aimed.

The December ruling against Lufthansa was also concerning a Google ad that included the callout “Fly more sustainably” in reference to the airline’s ‘Green fares’ option, under which 20% of flight-related CO2 emissions would be reduced by using sustainable aviation fuels. The ASA said the basis for the claim “Fly more sustainably” had not been made clear in the ad. Lufthansa removed this reference from future ads. Nine months earlier, the airline had another complaint against it upheld by the ASA over a poster with the headline “Connecting the world, protecting its future”.

The case against Air France also involved a Google ad aimed at the public, which stated “Air France is committed to protecting the environment: travel better and sustainably”. The ASA said this would be understood by consumers to mean the airline offered a sustainable and environmentally friendly way to travel by air. “We therefore expected to see a high level of evidence which demonstrated how Air France were protecting the environment and making aviation sustainable,” it stated. Unlike Etihad and Lufthansa, the ASA said Air France did not provide a “substantive” response to its enquiries.

Other airlines have faced greenwashing accusations elsewhere in Europe. In March, KLM lost a court case in the Netherlands, brought by environmental groups, which alleged the airline’s marketing breached the EU Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (see article). The judgment ruled that KLM’s claims suggesting flying can be or is becoming sustainable, as well as advertising suggesting the use of sustainable aviation fuels and carbon offsetting reduce or compensate for the climate impact of flying, “are misleading and therefore unlawful.”

In May, following a complaint by European consumer umbrella group BEUC, the European Commission and EU consumer authorities wrote to 20 European airlines over claims they were misleading consumers by informing them that the CO2 emissions caused by a flight could be offset by climate projects or through the use of SAF by paying additional fees (see article).

Photo: Virgin Atlantic’s Flight 100 was carried out on a Rolls-Royce-powered Boeing 787

Christopher Surgenor

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The International Aerospace Environmental Group (IAEG), a non-profit organisation of global aerospace companies created to collaborate on and share environmental solutions for the industry, has announced the formation of a working group to evaluate technical issues regarding the compatibility of 100% sustainable aviation fuel with airplane systems. With Boeing as lead and Airbus as deputy lead, the IAEG Work Group 13 (WG 13) will also include team members from Dassault Aviation, GE Aerospace, RTX’s Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce and Safran, among others. They will coordinate 100% SAF testing efforts with the test results helping the Work Group inform fuel standards body ASTM International as it develops new specifications for 100% SAF. Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic has shared headline results from its 100% SAF transatlantic flight last November.

IAEG said its WG13 team will also engage stakeholders, including fuel producers, airports and airlines, to understand what steps may be required to support the transition to SAF.

“This collaboration will help prepare the broader aviation ecosystem for 100% SAF capabilities, as part of the aviation goal of achieving net zero CO2 emissions by 2050,” said Ryan Faucett, Boeing’s VP Environmental Sustainability and IAEG Board Member. “We will share our findings from our SAF compatibility and ground-breaking jet reference fluids research and continue to collaborate with this Work Group to support a more sustainable aviation future.”

IAEG said the Work Group would support “consistent communication” with external stakeholders and educate infrastructure partners and suppliers on what will be needed to ensure operational readiness for 100% SAF.

Added Dr Bruno Costes, Airbus Senior Director of Institutional Relations and Standardisation, and IAEG Chair: “Airbus will bring its knowledge and experience from years of 100% SAF demonstration flights, coupled with our technical expertise in developing new fuel standards.”

Formed in 2011, IAEG has 59 member companies representing 70% of the global aerospace and defence industry. As well as WG 13’s efforts on 100% SAF compatibility, Work Group 3 is focusing on GHG emission reporting guidance.

Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic has released headline results from its Flight100 transatlantic flight last November, the first commercial aircraft flight to cross the Atlantic using 100% SAF. The flight, following a year’s collaborative effort involving Boeing, Rolls-Royce, Imperial College London, University of Sheffield, ICF and RMI, did not require any engine, airframe or fuel infrastructure changes.

A full lifecycle analysis showed a saving of 95 tonnes of CO2, or 64% of the emissions produced from a standard flight from London Heathrow to New York JFK. Beyond the carbon reductions, the flight produced 40% fewer non-CO2 particulate emissions, so suggesting SAF could have a material impact on improving local air quality at airports and reducing the formation of persistent contrails. Interestingly, the Flight100 SAF produced 1% more energy compared to the same mass of fossil fuel, with the increased efficiency leading to a reduction of the fuel used in flight, with the implication of further environmental benefits.

Following the release of the headline results, the consortium will meet for a “technical deep dive” in early June. “This is a further step to ensure open-source information sharing – a fundamental element of the project,” said Virgin Atlantic.

Photo: The Virgin Atlantic 100% SAF transatlantic flight

Christopher Surgenor

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The first transatlantic flight of a commercial airliner to be fully powered by sustainable aviation fuel was conducted today by a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787 on a journey from London Heathrow to New York JFK. The 88% HEFA fuel made from waste fats and supplied by Air bp was blended with 12% synthetic aromatic kerosene (SAK) supplied by US company Virent. Flight100 is the culmination of a one-year collaboration led by Virgin Atlantic involving ICF, Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), Imperial College London, University of Sheffield, Boeing and Rolls-Royce, in partnership with the UK Department for Transport (DfT). As well as proving the capabilities of 100% SAF, the flight’s non-carbon emissions will be assessed to improve scientific understanding of the effects of SAF on contrails and particulates. The DfT supported the flight with £1 million of funding and has recently awarded nine projects a combined £53 million ($67m) in a second round competition to help scale up the UK SAF production industry.

On board Flight100, which required a specific permit from the UK CAA since commercial flights are certified only to fly with a maximum 50% SAF blend,  was Transport Secretary Mark Harper. “Today’s historic flight shows how we can both decarbonise transport and enable passengers to keep flying when and where they want. This government has backed today’s flight to take-off and we will continue to support the UK’s emerging SAF industry as it creates jobs, grows the economy and gets us to Jet Zero.”

He was accompanied by Virgin Atlantic’s Chief Executive, Shai Weiss, and the airline’s founder, Sir Richard Branson.

Branson was involved in the first-ever biofuels flight of a commercial airliner in February 2008 when a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 flew from Heathrow to Amsterdam with one of its four engines partly powered by a fuel made from babassu nuts and coconuts. Nearly 10 years later, the airline made a transatlantic flight using fuel made from waste gases that was supplied by LanzaTech.

Commenting on today’s flight, Branson said: “The world will always assume something can’t be done, until you do it. The spirit of innovation is getting out there and trying to prove that we can do things better for everyone’s benefit.

“Virgin Atlantic has been challenging the status quo and pushing the aviation industry to never settle and do better since 1984. Fast forward nearly 40 years, that pioneering spirit continues to be Virgin Atlantic’s beating heart as it pushes the boundaries from carbon fibre aircraft and fleet upgrades to sustainable fuels.”

Weiss said the flight proved SAF was a safe, drop-in replacement for fossil-derived fuel and the only viable solution for decarbonising long-haul aviation. “It’s taken radical collaboration to get here and we’re proud to have reached this important milestone, but we need to push further,” he said.

The main feedstock for the HEFA (Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids) SAF supplied for the flight was tallow, a by-product of the meat rendering process and unsuitable for animal or human consumption. The SAK was made from plant sugars, with the remainder of plant proteins, oils and fibres continuing into the food chain.

Following the flight, a full end-to-end lifecycle analysis will be undertaken, accounting for the emissions reduction associated with the use of SAF and the fuel optimisation activities being deployed. Any residual emissions are being mitigated with the use of carbon removals, specifically biochar credits – a material that traps and stores carbon taken from the atmosphere.

Research on the non-CO2 emissions from the flight will help to implement contrail forecasts in the flight planning process, said Virgin Atlantic, adding the data and outcomes will be shared with industry and that the airline would continue its involvement with contrail work through RMI’s Climate Impact Task Force, which is part-funded by Virgin Unite.

Sheila Remes, VP Environmental Sustainability at Boeing, said the flight was another milestone for the two partners following on from the biofuel test flight in 2008 and was a key step in Boeing’s commitment to deliver 100% SAF-compatible flights by 2030.

Simon Burr, Group Director of Engineering, Technology & Safety, Rolls-Royce, whose Trent 1000 engines powered today’s 787 Dreamliner flight, reported the OEM had recently completed compatibility testing of 100% SAF on all its in-production civil aero engine types. “This [flight] is further proof that there are no engine technology barriers to the use of 100% SAF,” he said.

Federica Berra, SVP of Air bp, said: “Collaboration with industry partners is vital to successfully scale SAF, as is long-term policy support to foster supply and demand. Our expert team has worked for months in preparation for this flight, drawing upon their deep knowledge and skills in fuel handling, blending and logistics to ensure product quality and safety standards have been met.”

The flight has been welcomed by others in the UK aviation industry, which is relying on SAF to achieve its net zero emissions by 2050 target. “This is an exciting milestone on the journey towards aviation’s net-zero future. To ensure we achieve this shared goal, the right government policy and price support needs to be in place to see the scalability of affordable SAF to airlines; alongside the investment in and infrastructure for zero and low-emission aviation technologies like hydrogen,” said a statement by cross-sector group Sustainable Aviation.

Jonathon Counsell, Group Head of Sustainability at International Airlines Group and Chair of the UK Jet Zero Council’s SAF Delivery Group, commented: “The test flights flown prove that the aviation industry is technically ready to make the switch to SAF but what we need now is action from governments to incentivise investment and get plants into construction. And that needs to happen quickly as the UK government has committed to five plants in construction by 2025, so time is of the essence.”

The UK DfT’s Advanced Fuels Fund competition is making available around £135 million ($170m) in total for the development of SAF production plants in the UK. Winners in the first window announced last December included Alfanar Energy (Lighthouse Green Fuels project), Fulcrum BioEnergy (NorthPoint), LanzaTech UK (DRAGON) and Velocys (Altalto and e-Alto).

Winning proposals for the second window were announced this month, with funding going to nine projects. Alfanar received a second award for activity not covered by their first window award, otherwise the awards in the second round went to new projects including Abundia Biomass-to-Liquids (A-Jet UK), Arcadia e-Fuels (NABOO), Carbon Neutral Fuels (ASAP-DAC), Esso Petroleum (Solent SAF), Nova Pangaea Technologies (Project Speedbird, which is backed by British Airways), OXCCU Tech (OXEFUEL BIOGENIC), Willis Sustainable Fuels (Carbonshift PtL) and Zero Petroleum (PMZ.2).

The DfT said the fund would help deliver the upcoming UK SAF mandate that will require at least 10% of jet fuel to come from sustainable feedstocks by 2030, which it estimates would save the industry up to 2.7 million tonnes of CO2e annually.

While in the United States, Transport Secretary Harper will co-chair a SAF Investor Summit in New York.

Photo: Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787 is fuelled at Heathrow with the 100% SAF supplied by Air bp before Flight100 to New York JFK

Christopher Surgenor

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Following its successful bid for UK government funding of £1 million ($1.2m), Virgin Atlantic says it expects to conduct the first-ever net zero transatlantic flight to be powered by 100% sustainable aviation fuel in November. The airline has put together a consortium with six partners – Boeing, Rolls-Royce, Imperial College London, University of Sheffield, ICF and Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) – and is forming up to seven working groups for what it describes as a highly challenging project. Virgin is targeting the Rolls-Royce engine-powered Boeing 787 flight between London Heathrow and New York JFK to carry non-paying passengers, subject to approval by regulators, a representative from the airline told a UK SAF conference. The flight is part of the UK government’s ‘Jet Zero’ strategy to decarbonise the UK aviation sector, with SAF as one of the main tools for achieving a target of net zero emissions by 2050. To create a demand for SAF, the government is introducing a mandated obligation on fuel suppliers from 2025. A Department for Transport (DfT) official said a second consultation on the mandate will be launched shortly, with a final policy decision expected later this year.

Virgin is looking to acquire around 60 tonnes of HEFA fuel with a 12% synthetic aromatic content, of which 45-50 tonnes will be used for the transatlantic flight and the remainder for testing and approvals purposes, Luke Ervine, the airline’s Head of Sustainability, informed delegates at the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Supply Chain Initiative event in Leeds organised by Innovate UK KTN, a government agency tasked with accelerating the creation of a UK SAF industry, and supported by the DfT and industry group Sustainable Aviation.

“We’d love to have passengers onboard but that is going to involve a lot of conversations at a high level with the UK CAA and DfT,” said Ervine. “Everything will be grounded in safety and we will be led by the approvals process.”

He said the airline was currently considering commercial agreements with potential UK suppliers for the HEFA fuel requirement and the synthetic aromatic kerosene would need to be imported from the United States as there was only one supplier at present.

Virgin is working with the University of Sheffield on fuel analysis and ICF on lifecycle assessment and emissions reduction validation. Another working group, involving RMI and Imperial College, will focus on climate-warming contrail formation to better understand the roles SAF and route planning can play in their avoidance. US-based RMI has recently formed a cross-sector task force, which includes Imperial College, to explore opportunities to address the warming impact of contrails.

Imperial’s Dr Marc Stettler told the conference non-CO2 effects, particularly from ice crystal contrail formations in the upper atmosphere caused by water vapour and soot particles from jet engine exhausts, were at least as important as CO2 in terms of the overall climate impact of aviation, which taken together contribute around 3.5% to total anthropogenic radiative forcing.

Pointing to research carried out by NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Stettler said there was evidence that cleaner-burning jet fuels made from sustainable sources can produce 50-70% fewer ice crystal contrails at cruising altitude. Given that only a small number of flights, particularly those flying at dusk or dawn, or in wintertime, were responsible for most of the warming contrails, he suggested there were potentially significant climate benefits by targeting the use of SAF on these flights.

In addition to the use of SAF, the Virgin flight will focus attention on flight efficiency and route optimisation, and to ensure it is completely net zero, residual emissions will be removed through biochar carbon credits purchased from the carbon market.

“We intend collecting all the data and create an open source information platform across industry stakeholders to share the lessons learned and help others with their own operations,” said Ervine.

Hazel Schofield, Deputy Head of Low Carbon Fuels at the UK Department for Transport, said the government mandate would ensure 10% of UK jet fuel by 2030, around 1.5 billion litres, was made up of SAF produced from wastes, with a separate target for power-to-liquid fuels. A cap would be placed on HEFA fuels to encourage new-generation fuels produced from gasification/FT and alcohol-to-jet technologies.

She said the impending government consultation would include full details of what will be included in the legislation and how the 2030 target was to be achieved. The government is also setting up a SAF clearing house to help potential UK SAF producers access testing capacity in the UK for certification purposes rather than ship fuel abroad for testing. Schofield said the DfT hoped to announce a delivery partner shortly.

Other than decarbonisation, she said the government had three main priorities for setting up a UK SAF industry: fuel resilience so the UK was not reliant on imported fuels, opportunities for UK green economic growth and also for green jobs. However, there were four barriers to investment in SAF:

• Feedstock access;
• Technologies required for conversion;
• Construction of plants; and
• Revenue uncertainty

She said the government has commissioned an independent review of the challenges and a report would be published shortly, after consideration by ministers.

“Yes, there has been a lot of progress and we have moved forward over the last year but there is certainly a lot more to do,” she concluded.

Also speaking at the conference, Jonathon Counsell, Group Head of Sustainability at International Airlines Group and Chair of the Jet Zero Council’s SAF Delivery Group, said that to achieve the 10% by 2030 target, five commercial-scale SAF production plants needed to be under construction by 2025.

“These plants will therefore need to hit financial close by mid-2024, so policies will need to be in legislation by the end of this year or certainly in the first half of next year,” he said.

“We recognise the mandate can create a demand signal but this needs to be supplemented by some form of price stability mechanism, such as we’ve seen in other renewable industries and we strongly feel it’s needed for SAF.”

To ensure price certainty and reduce investor risk, Counsell suggested a proven policy instrument such as Contracts for Difference should be implemented by the government.

The Jet Zero Council is a government/industry body set up in 2020 with the objective to accelerate delivery of net zero emissions for the UK aviation sector, with a focus on areas needing policy support. Counsell’s SAF Delivery Group has three sub-groups responsible for the mandate’s development, SAF commercialisation and technologies and feedstocks required for SAF production. Twelve financial institutions are now participating in the commercialisation sub-group, said Counsell.

He reported overseas interest in the JZC concept. “We have had conversations with other countries who would like to replicate the Council. We are supporting the establishment of a JZC in Australia and engaged in discussions with Spain and Ireland,” he said.

Ministers responsible for the Department for Transport and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy co-chair the Council. The latter was broken up in a reshuffle last week to create a new Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, which is led by former Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps.

Image (Boeing): Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9

Christopher Surgenor

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Further commitments have been announced by major airlines in Europe and the US for sustainable aviation fuel, collectively totalling around 550 million gallons. Air France-KLM has signed an MoU with its long-term fuel supplier TotalEnergies for up to 800,000 tonnes of SAF, or 264 million gallons, for its group of airlines, while low-cost European carrier Ryanair has partnered with Shell for another 360,000 tonnes, or 120 million gallons, and US operator JetBlue will take at least 92 million gallons of blended product from Fidelis New Energy. The three deals add to other significant offtake agreements this year by each of the airline groups as they ramp up their decarbonisation activities. Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic is to purchase 70 million gallons of SAF over seven years as part of a new agreement with joint venture partner Delta Air Lines. The fuel, which will be produced by Gevo, will be used on flights from the US West Coast.

The Air France-KLM agreement with TotalEnergies, a strategic partner since 2014, specifies the supply of 800,000 tonnes of SAF over 10 years, with deliveries commencing in 2023. The fuel will be used by Air France, KLM and Transavia largely for flights departing from French airports, in line with national SAF blending requirements, as well as from the Netherlands. The fuel will also comply with the airline group’s policy that any SAF it procures must not compete with human food or animal feed, that it not be derived from palm oil and that it be certified as compliant.

As of earlier this year, KLM flights from Amsterdam Schiphol have been operating with a minimum of 0.5% SAF in their jet fuel and the French government has introduced a 1% SAF mandate on flights from French airports, a level that is expected to rise to 2% in 2025 and 5% in 2030 in line with proposed EU regulation. Crop-based fuels have been excluded from use in the French mandate.

“Air France-KLM is fully committed to advancing SAF production in Europe and around the world,” said CEO Benjamin Smith. “This MoU with TotalEnergies is another building block to further the development of a French SAF industry that can meet the airlines’ needs. This therefore marks a fundamental milestone in the successful decarbonisation of our business. We are continuing to step up our efforts to reduce the impact of our operations as quickly as possible.” 

TotalEnergies is targeting 1.5 million tonnes of SAF production by 2030 using waste and residues including used cooking oil, animal fats and synthetic fuels. “This new partnership with Air France-KLM exemplifies the excellence of industry and French aerospace in committing to a more sustainable aviation sector,” said its CEO Patrick Pouyanné, adding biofuel development was a company priority. “By directly reducing the carbon intensity of the energy products used by our air transport customers, we are actively working with them to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, together with society.”

In recent initiatives, Air France-KLM group airlines have operated a range of flights using between 16% and 30% SAF sourced from TotalEnergies.

The latest SAF deal coincides with confirmation that under the group’s scope 1 and 3 emissions reduction targets, Air France Group and KLM have been assessed and validated under the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) as aligning with the ‘well-below 2 degrees Celsius’ objective determined as part of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate. The strategy is primarily centred on reducing direct and indirect CO2 emissions by 30% per passenger/km by 2030 compared to 2019.

In another European partnership, low-cost carrier Ryanair has signed an MoU with global energy company Shell for the supply of SAF to more than 200 airports across Europe, in particular the airline’s biggest bases in Dublin and London Stansted.

Through this deal, the airline expects to access up to 360,000 tonnes, or 120 million gallons, of SAF between 2025 and 2030, with the fuels produced via multiple technology pathways and using a range of sustainable feedstocks. It estimates that using this amount of SAF would reduce CO2 emissions from its flights by more than 900,000 tonnes, equivalent to the output of over 70,000 Dublin-Milan services.

“SAF plays a key role in our Pathway to Net Zero strategy, and also our commitment to a target of 12.5% SAF by 2030,” said Thomas Fowler, Ryanair’s Sustainability Director. The agreement with Shell would enable the airline to procure around 20% of the SAF needed to meet this target, he said, while progressing its aggressive growth strategy, which estimates that passenger volumes will reach 168 million in FY2023, en-route to a target of 225 million per year by FY2026. 

Jan Toschka, President of Shell Aviation, said their agreement demonstrated that both companies viewed SAF as the key to net zero aviation emissions. “It is fantastic to build on our existing relationship with Ryanair to now look at what we can achieve together on sustainability,” he said. “Leadership and bold actions are needed to accelerate the decarbonisation of flight.”

In the US, JetBlue and Fidelis New Energy (FNE) have signed an MoU on SAF, through which the airline will source at least 92 million gallons of blended product over a five-year term from 2025. The fuel will be designed to achieve negative lifecycle carbon intensity by integrating carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) and biomass energy with CCS (BECCS). The SAF will be produced at FNE’s Gron Fuels GigaSystem at the Port of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which the company estimates will produce 1 billion gallons per year of SAF, renewable diesel and other low carbon products. The new plant will also use waste process heat to generate power, producing biogas from by-products and using flexible processing methods to produce carbon-negative SAF from existing and emerging feedstocks.

Although JetBlue is already a regular user of SAF, it accounts for less than 1% of the airline’s total fuel usage. “We need significantly more supply to reach our 2040 net zero target,” said Sara Bogdan, JetBlue’s Director of Sustainability and ESG. “With partners like Fidelis and their carbon negative Gron Fuels Gigasystem, we are not only supplying our own growing SAF needs, we’re sending a powerful signal that significant demand for SAF exists. By introducing negative carbon intensity SAF to our network, we are also taking steps towards reaching true carbon neutrality as an airline.”

In addition to producing carbon negative SAF, Fidelis Co-founder and COO Bengt Jarlsjo said his company’s high-capacity carbon sink was expected to permanently sequester some 5 million tons of biogenic CO2 per year from the Louisiana facility.

JetBlue has also had a science-based, Paris-aligned climate target to reduce jet fuel emissions approved by the SBTi. The airline commits to reducing well-to-wake scope 1 and 3 GHG emissions by 50% per revenue tonne kilometre (RTK) by 2035 from a 2019 base year, with a goal of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2040, 10 years ahead of the sector’s target. The airline said SAF is expected to be the key contributor to large-scale lifecycle emissions reduction, although it is highly dependent on availability and costs of supply.

Virgin Atlantic Airways has announced a 70 million gallon commitment to SAF with its 49% shareholder Delta Air Lines, and to be produced by Gevo. The fuel will be supplied by Delta to Virgin Atlantic at a rate of 10 million US gallons per year over seven years at either Los Angeles or San Francisco airports. It will represent 20% of Virgin Atlantic’s commitment to 10% SAF use by 2030 and equate to around 500 trans-Atlantic flights from Los Angeles.

The parties have not disclosed a start date for deliveries of SAF, which will come from one of Gevo’s future production facilities. Gevo separates sugars and proteins from sustainably farmed non-edible industrial corn, with the sugars then used to produce SAF and the proteins fed to livestock, whose manure can then be processed to develop renewable natural gas and agricultural fertiliser.

“We know that SAF has a fundamental role to play in aviation decarbonisation,” said Holly Boyd Boland, VP Corporate Development at Virgin Atlantic. “The demand from airlines is clear and Virgin Atlantic is committed to supporting the scale up of SAF production at pace. We cannot meet our collective ambition of Net Zero 2050 without it.”

In March this year, Delta signed an agreement with Gevo valued at around $2.8 billion to purchase 75 million gallons per year over seven years, subject to Gevo developing, financing and constructing one or more production facilities to fulfil the quantity.

Image: Air France-KLM

Virgin Atlantic has purchased 2.5 million litres (2,000 tonnes) of sustainable aviation fuel from Neste for use in its UK operations and is expected to be delivered in the first half of this year. The SAF will be sourced from renewable waste and residue raw materials, with the supply and distribution of the blended fuel managed by ExxonMobil, the airline’s largest fuel supplier at London Heathrow. Neste says its MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel, in its neat form, can reduce GHG emissions by up to 80% on a life-cycle basis compared with fossil jet fuel. Having operated the airline industry’s first-ever biofuel flight back in 2008 from Heathrow, Virgin Atlantic says the agreement with Neste represents its first commercial supply of SAF in the UK and an important step towards the airline’s target of 10% SAF by 2030. Meanwhile, the Virgin Group has formed a strategic partnership with chemical conversion company Agilyx to research and develop lower carbon fuels, including SAF, produced from plastic waste. A first waste-to-fuel facility is planned to be in the US, with an aspiration to roll out similar plants in other countries, including the UK.

Commenting on the Neste SAF fuel purchase for its Heathrow operations, Holly Boyd-Boland, VP Corporate Development at Virgin Atlantic, said: “After fleet renewal, SAF represents the greatest opportunity to decarbonise aviation in the short to medium term. This supply is the beginning of commercial SAF at scale for Virgin Atlantic and whilst only enough to operate 140 flights between London and New York, it’s a starting point.

“To meet our 10% SAF target in 2030 we need to deliver this volume 70 times over, requiring cross-industry and government action to support commercialisation of SAF at scale, particularly in the UK. We will continue to work closely with Neste and ExxonMobil, as well as wider industry partners, to find innovative solutions to achieve this goal.”

Responded Jonathan Wood, VP Renewable Aviation at Neste: “We are ready to support the aviation industry and UK government’s policy ambitions to increase the use of SAF to at least 10% by 2030. We need to act now – SAF is a proven solution with clear benefits and is already available today.”

Added Paul Greenwood, Chairman of Esso UK, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil: “We’re proud to play our part in this pioneering agreement, facilitating a safe, secure and reliable supply of lower emission aviation fuel via our dedicated pipeline network.”

The Virgin Group partnership with Agilyx, in which it has been an investor for many years, aims to break down unrecyclable plastic waste through a pyrolysis process to produce synthetic crude oil that will then be refined into a lower carbon fuel. The two partners intend to work on the development of production facilities based on Agilyx’s proprietary conversion technology. Cyclyx, a feedstock company that is majority owned by Agilyx, will source the plastic waste to be used for the fuel in the first facility.

“This platform is unique as it will be used for lower carbon fuels and has the future opportunity for the production of circular plastics,” said Tim Stedman, CEO of Agilyx. “We view plastic waste as a valuable above ground resource that is not widely tapped into. Through our technology, we aim to unlock the value of plastic waste that otherwise may have been destined for landfill or incineration.”

The Virgin Group says it wants to provide the solution to the global market and expects Virgin Atlantic and other Virgin companies to be early adopters as part of the group’s net zero by 2050 ambitions.

“The creation of lower carbon fuel is an important step in the journey towards net zero. We are very pleased to be adding this project to the range of investments we continue to make aimed at addressing these issues,” commented Josh Bayliss, CEO of the Virgin Group.

Shai Weiss, CEO of Virgin Atlantic, said although sustainable aviation fuel was the key solution for decarbonising the aviation sector, there was still a long way to go. “Clearing the skies for tomorrow requires radical collaboration across innovators, producers, investors and airlines,” he said. “We are delighted that Virgin Group and Agilyx are leading the charge to pilot new pathways in lower carbon fuels and we look forward to working closely with them to achieve our 10% SAF target by 2030.”

Photo: Virgin Atlantic

Two sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) projects in the UK have been announced that involve British Airways, one to investigate a commercial facility that would produce more than 100 million litres per year of jet fuel made from atmospheric CO2 and the other to recycle carbon from UK wood waste and turn it into SAF. Partners on the projects include US company LanzaTech and its offshoot LanzaJet. Project AtmosFUEL is a collaboration of Canadian direct air capture (DAC) technology company Carbon Engineering, LanzaTech UK, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, and is targeting a proposed facility to be operational by the end of the decade. Also with a goal of producing 100 million litres of SAF a year, Project Speedbird brings together Nova Pangaea Technologies, LanzaJet and British Airways. Both projects were recently shortlisted by the UK government to receive funding from the ‘Green Fuels, Green Skies’ competition.

Project AtmosFUEL will examine how Carbon Engineering (CE) and LanzaTech technologies can be integrated to recycle atmospheric CO2 into ultra-low carbon jet fuel. CE’s DAC technology will capture CO2 from the atmosphere so it can be fed into LanzaTech’s gas fermentation process to produce low-carbon ethanol. The ethanol will then be converted into SAF using LanzaJet’s alcohol-to-jet (AtJ) technology that was developed by LanzaTech and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in the United States. The fuel, which is claimed to offer more than a 90% reduction in GHG emissions compared to conventional fossil jet fuel, will undergo certification by the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials.

“Using DAC to make SAF presents an opportunity for unprecedented scale, a key factor when the greatest challenge we face as an industry is getting the volumes of fuel we need into planes as soon as possible,” said LanzaTech CEO Jennifer Holmgren. “We applaud the UK government’s continued leadership role in creating opportunities for bringing recycled carbon into the supply chain to enable achieving Net Zero.”

LanzaTech says its first commercial gas fermentation plant has produced over 20 million gallons of ethanol and has been working with the UK government and several industrial partners on Project DRAGON to build the world’s first commercial-scale, waste ethanol-based AtJ production facility in South Wales (see article). The fuel will be used by UK-based airlines, including British Airways and long-time partner Virgin Atlantic. The feedstock for the facility will be procured from a variety of waste sources and the facility will have the ability to also use ethanol produced from local steel mill waste gases.

From a pilot plant in British Columbia, CE has been capturing atmospheric CO2 since 2015 and converting it into fuels since 2017. In partnership with 1PointFive, which has financial backing from United Airlines (see article), CE is engineering a large-scale, commercial DAC facility in the US that will capture one million tonnes of CO2 per year.

With UK partner Storegga, CE has begun engineering and design of a proposed facility in north-east Scotland to permanently remove between 500,000 and one million tonnes of CO2 per year. It would be the first large-scale facility of its kind in Europe and the partners are aiming for it to be operational by 2026.

“These types of first-of-a-kind facilities will position the UK as a world leader in advanced low carbon jet fuel breakthroughs and will deliver significant emission reductions and rippling economic benefits,” said CE’s VP Europe, Amy Ruddock.

Virgin Atlantic’s Chief Commercial Officer, Juha Jarvinen, commented: “The involvement of two leading UK airlines as partners in this project reflects how important it is to support such innovation and the role airlines play in developing a UK-based SAF production capability. We very much look forward to working with our partners over the coming months.”

Added British Airways CEO Sean Doyle: “We look forward to pushing forward with this project, which is one of many we’re working on as we head towards our target to decarbonise and reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.”

The airline is involved in four of the eight projects that have been shortlisted to receive grant funding under the Department for Transport’s ‘Green Fuels, Green Skies’ competition (see article).

“These plants would be a game-changer for our industry, not only delivering sustainable aviation fuel but also creating many hundreds of highly skilled jobs while increasing economic growth around the UK,” said Doyle.

Shortlisted Project Speedbird, involving LanzaJet, British Airways and Nova Pangaea Technologies, which is based in Redcar, northeast England, aims to develop the UK’s first SAF production facility to utilise UK-sourced wood waste. According to the Wood Recyclers Association, the amount of waste wood processed in the UK increased by 6% to 3.98 million tonnes in 2019.

The integrated technology platform is based on Nova Pangaea’s REFNOVA patented process of converting lignocellulosic feedstocks, such as waste wood and non-food biomass, into sustainable biofuels and chemicals. LanzaJet’s technology would then convert the ethanol to synthetic paraffinic kerosene and synthetic paraffinic diesel to produce SAF and renewable diesel.

“We plan to deliver the first UK-based end-to-end sustainable value chain from UK wood waste and residues to SAF,” said Sarah Ellerby of Nova Pangaea, who was appointed CEO in January 2020 following 15 years of experience as CEO of three US companies within the energy sector.

Jimmy Samartzis, CEO of project partner LanzaJet, said: “The conversion of wood waste to SAF in the UK helps decarbonise aviation and recycles carbon from local UK wood waste. At LanzaJet, we’re in a unique position with ready and scaling technology to produce lower carbon, sustainable fuels. Our partnership with British Airways and Nova Pangaea provides a novel and important integrated solution for the UK.”

Photo: Heathrow Airport

Eight proposed sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) projects have been shortlisted by the UK’s Department for Transport (DfT) to share up to £15 million ($20m) in grant funding to support early-stage development of large-scale SAF production plants in the UK. All selected projects have the potential to reduce emissions by more than 70% on a lifecycle basis when used in place of conventional fossil jet fuel, said the DfT. The plants plan to produce jet fuel from a variety of sources including sewage; household and commercial waste; alcohol derived from wastes; and from captured atmospheric carbon dioxide. Organisations standing to gain from the funding include Velocys, Fulcrum BioEnergy, LanzaTech, Lanzajet, Advanced Biofuel Solutions, Alfanar Energy, Green Fuels Research, Nova Pangaea and Carbon Engineering, with a few of the projects shortlisted still at their feasibility stage.

Research carried out for the DfT indicates that by 2040 the SAF sector could generate between £0.7 billion and £1.66 billion a year for the UK economy, with potentially half of this coming from the export of intellectual property and the provision of engineering services. Between 5,000 and 11,000 green jobs could also be created across the nation and SAF production could also increase UK fuel security.

The eight projects shortlisted in the Green Fuels, Green Skies (GFGS) competition are:

• Advanced Biofuel Solutions Ltd – ABSL will work with a British refinery and engineering company to produce a detailed engineering design for a new facility in Cheshire, north-west England. The plant will use gasification and Fischer-Tropsch (FT) technology to convert 130,000 tonnes of waste a year into aviation fuel.
• Alfanar Energy Ltd – The company’s Lighthouse Green Fuels (LGF) project, located in Tees Valley, north-east England, will use gasification and FT technology to convert household and commercial waste into around 180 million litres of SAF and naphtha. The project is currently completing design optimisation work ahead of starting the front-end engineering design (FEED) stage by the end of 2021.
• Fulcrum BioEnergy Ltd – The Fulcrum NorthPoint project, being developed at the Stanlow Manufacturing Complex in north-west England, will convert residual waste into around 100 million litres of SAF using gasification and FT technology. Funding will support the FEED stage of project work.
• Green Fuels Research Ltd – A joint endeavour between Green Fuels, Petrofac and Cranfield University, the FIREFLY project aims to demonstrate and certify a technology route to SAF from sewage sludge. Funding will support the project’s pre-FEED development stage.
• LanzaTech UK Ltd – Funding will support the FEED stage of a proposed facility in Port Talbot, South Wales, which is expected to produce over 100 million litres of SAF per year, using ethanol from biogenic wastes and industry flue gases.
• LanzaTech UK Ltd and Carbon Engineering – Funding will support a feasibility study into producing 100 million litres of SAF per year using Carbon Engineering’s direct air capture (DAC) technology, and hydrogen from water electrolysis to convert into SAF using Lanzatech’s gas fermentation and LanzaJet’s alcohol-to-jet technology. Project members include British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.
• Nova Pangaea Technologies (UK) Ltd – Along with British Airways and LanzaJet, the feasibility project will study the optimal design to construct a facility that produces more than 100 million litres of SAF a year using UK woody residues.
• Velcocys Projects Ltd – The funding will support progress towards FEED of the Altalto project being developed by Velocys and British Airways to build a commercial waste-to-SAF plant in Immingham, north-east England, using gasification and FT technology.

The eight projects are understood to be assured of funding with the amounts to each to be announced very shortly and subject to contract. The bulk of the funding will go to those projects in the pre-FEED or FEED phase with around £2 million expected to be awarded to those in their feasibility stage. The GFGS funding period is a fixed term from August to the end of March 2022.

Sean Doyle, CEO of British Airways, which is involved in four of the projects, commented: “We’re determined to transform the sustainability of our industry and this potential GFGS government funding is critical in helping us to show the feasibility of building SAF plants. These plants would be a game-changer for our industry, not only delivering SAF but also creating many hundreds of highly skilled jobs while increasing economic growth around the UK.”

Henrik Wareborn, CEO of Velocys, which benefited from funding under the government’s £20 million F4C competition held in 2017, said: “We welcome this new funding as it will help bring Altalto closer to the production of SAF. The GFGS initiative highlights the importance of building SAF facilities throughout the country that will help the UK not only to meet the targets set but also make a quantifiable impact on climate change.”

Added Jimmy Samartzis, CEO of US-based LanzaJet, which is partnering on one of the shortlisted projects with British Airways and Nova Pangaea, said: “Together, we are grateful to the Prime Minister and DfT for their support in advancing the production of SAF in the UK.”

The Green Fuels Research (GFR) project with Petrofac and Cranfield University will demonstrate an integrated route to SAF using sewage sludge as feedstock and encompasses engineering design and construction of a UK demonstration plant capable of generating the quantities of fuel to allow certification to international standards. This in turn, says GFR, will lead to a first-of-a-kind commercial refinery and roll-out to several locations where airports, pipeline terminals and wastewater treatment works are in close proximity. The company says around 53 million tonnes per annum of untreated sewage sludge are collected in the UK from about 8,500 wastewater treatment works.

Commenting on the competition announcement, Green Fuels CEO James Hygate said: “We’re delighted to have this opportunity to prove the environmental and commercial viability of the FIREFLY route, which integrates several existing technologies into a sustainable industrial process. Among many advantages, FIREFLY will use fully biogenic feedstock which will emit no fossil carbon, won’t contribute to deforestation or compete with food production, and will not rely on imports with long, high-emission supply chains. And perhaps most importantly, we expect to demonstrate exceptional carbon savings, meaning this is potentially a very fast route to decarbonising aviation that won’t rely on as yet unknown technologies.”

The competition has been managed by consultants Ricardo and once the funding has been distributed, it will monitor the eight projects on behalf of the DfT.

“We have been amazed by the diversity and creativity of the entries,” said Alexandra Humphris-Bach, Ricardo Principal Consultant. “All the selected projects have a clear potential to produce SAF capable of reducing emissions by more than 70% on a lifecycle basis, when used in place of a conventional fossil jet fuel.”

The UK’s Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, said: “Aviation will be central to our future growth and plans to build back greener from the pandemic, which is why we have invested over £20 million in the past year to decarbonise the sector in line with our world-leading net zero targets.

“With less than 100 days to go until COP26, we’re ramping up our efforts even further to help companies break ground on trailblazing waste to jet fuel plants and put the UK at the forefront of international SAF production.”

Photo: British Airways is involved in four of the eight shortlisted projects

US-based LanzaTech has announced plans to build and commission what it claims will be the world’s first commercial-scale alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) production facility using ethanol feedstock made from steel mill waste gases and other wastes. The proposed facility in South Wales, UK, is expected to produce around 100 million litres per year of ATJ synthetic paraffinic kerosene (ATJ-SPK), which with a 30% blend target will yield around 330 million litres of blended sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) annually. LanzaTech will both build and operate this first UK deployment of the LanzaJet ATJ technology and then has ambitions with spin-out company LanzaJet to develop multiple follow-on projects in the UK and globally as the SAF market develops. This will be done primarily via a licensing model in which customers build, own and operate facilities that use the LanzaJet technology. The SAF from the South Wales facility will be used by UK-based airlines, including long-term partner Virgin Atlantic, which used LanzaTech jet fuel made from recycled waste gases on a commercial flight from Orlando to London Gatwick in October 2018.

That same year, LanzaTech, Virgin Atlantic and partners received a £410,000 ($570,000) grant from the UK Department for Transport (DfT) in respect of its Future Fuels for Flight and Freight Competition for a feasibility study on the project, which is now into the planning and permitting stage. For now, LanzaTech is holding back on releasing a fuel production start-up date.

The facility will be developed within Phase 2 of the South Wales Industrial Cluster (SWIC), a consortium involving 17 partners led by UK technology-based construction and engineering company Costain, which is aiming to create the world’s first net-zero emissions industrial zone and is aligned with the UK government’s ten-point plan for a green industrial revolution. This phase of SWIC is supported by £20 million ($28m) grant funding from Innovate UK, with an additional £17.6 million provided by industry, and aims to reduce industrial emissions at sites throughout South Wales in support of Welsh NetZero targets.

Within SWIC, LanzaTech said that with Costain’s support it will select the final project site, perform site-specific engineering and obtain facility permits. A spokesperson for the Chicago-headquartered company confirmed it has already engaged with stakeholders across the jet fuel supply chain – including fuel distributors, tank farms, major airlines and airports – to map out options for blending its ATJ-SPK with fossil jet fuel and distributing it via an existing  infrastructure to the airports and into planes.

The LanzaJet ATJ process developed by LanzaTech and the US Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) can use any source of sustainable ethanol made from, but not limited to, non-edible agricultural residues, such as wheat straw, and recycled industrial emissions that are otherwise unavoidable. The batch provided for the Virgin Atlantic flight was made by recycling waste industrial gases into ethanol.

“We are evaluating sites for an integrated recycled carbon fuel to SAF plant but are also working on a standalone ATJ facility that takes any source of ethanol and converts it to SAF,” the spokesperson told GreenAir. “A lot does depend on the policy landscape in the UK as currently fuels made from recycled carbon, including industrial off gases, don’t qualify under the government’s Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO). As part of a recent DfT consultation, there is scope they will be included in the future.”

LanzaTech CEO, and Chair of the LanzaJet Board, Dr Jennifer Holmgren sits on the UK government and industry Jet Zero Council, and company representatives take part in the Council’s working groups.

“Aviation presents unique decarbonisation challenges and it will take a global approach to help this key hard-to-abate sector meet net zero targets,” said Holmgren. “It is thanks to the support and close partnership with the US DOE and its PNNL energy laboratory that we are now able to bring our unique platform to the UK, with the combined support of industry and the UK government, including Innovate UK and United Kingdom Research and Innovation. This model of government and industry collaboration is precisely what the world needs to rapidly speed the pace of technology development and deployment.”

Added LanzaJet CEO Jimmy Samartzis: “The acceleration of the SAF industry is at an inflection point where government support to develop it is critical and we’re grateful for the UK government’s actions and support, serving as a model for other countries to follow.”

Responded UK Aviation Minister Robert Courts: “Sustainable aviation fuels have enormous potential to cut carbon emissions, support the creation of thousands of jobs and help us to build back better and greener. LanzaTech’s innovative technology gets us one step closer to being able to produce SAF at scale and deliver our world-leading decarbonisation programme, all while boosting local jobs in South Wales.”

Juha Järvinen, Chief Commercial Officer for Virgin Atlantic, said the airline had been a long-standing supporter of LanzaTech and the government now had a significant opportunity to create a UK-based production capability that could lead the way in the decarbonisation of the UK airline sector.

“As US firms start to build out their overseas capability, we would urge the UK government to accelerate its support for first-of-a-kind production facilities and put in place a favourable regulatory regime and financial guarantees to do so,” he said.

In February, British Airways revealed it was to invest in LanzaJet and purchase SAF to be produced at the US producer’s Freedom Pines Fuels facility in Georgia and used on BA flights from the US. The partnership also extends to the airline supporting LanzaJet plans for a potential commercial-scale UK biorefinery (see article).

LanzaTech has also announced the appointment of Jim Woodger as Managing Director of LanzaTech UK. Woodger previously served at Corbion, TerraVia (formerly Solazyme) and UOP’s Renewable Energy & Chemicals business.

Photo: Virgin Atlantic flight using LanzaTech ATJ fuel touches down at London Gatwick in 2018

British Airways has moved to extend its sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) ambitions with an investment in alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) producer LanzaJet, which is building its first commercial-scale plant in Georgia, USA. The airline will purchase SAF produced at the Freedom Pines Fuels facility from sustainably-sourced ethanol, with first deliveries expected late 2022, possibly to power BA flights from US airports to the UK. The partnership, which includes collaboration between BA and parent IAG’s Hangar 51 accelerator programme, also involves LanzaJet conducting early-stage planning for a potential large-scale commercial SAF biorefinery in the UK. British Airways has an existing partnership with sustainable fuels technology company Velocys that aims to build a facility in north-east England to convert household and commercial waste into renewable jet fuel. LanzaJet shareholder LanzaTech has a long-standing partnership with Virgin Atlantic, with plans to build an ATJ facility in Wales that has already received a grant from the UK government towards project development funding. LanzaTech recently announced it was forming a consortium called FLITE with SkyNRG to build Europe’s first of its kind ATJ plant.

“Progressing the development and commercial deployment of SAF is crucial to decarbonising the aviation industry and this partnership with LanzaJet shows the progress British Airways is making as we continue on our journey to net zero,” commented British Airways CEO Sean Doyle.

LanzaJet was formed in June last year with investment from LanzaTech, Canadian integrated energy company Suncor Energy and Japanese global trading and investment company Mitsui & Co. All Nippon Airways (ANA) is also supporting the venture through an offtake agreement and has already used a portion of fuel produced at Freedom Pines’ initial demonstration facility on a transpacific delivery flight of a new Boeing aircraft from Everett to Tokyo in 2019. Fuel from the 4,000-gallon batch was also used on a commercial passenger flight operated by Virgin Atlantic from Orlando to London Gatwick in 2018.

Details of BA’s investment have not been released although Suncor and Mitsui have invested $15 million and $10 million respectively to establish LanzaJet, with a further $14 million grant from the US Department of Energy. The funding is being used to build the Freedom Pines integrated biorefinery that will produce 10 million gallons per year of SAF and renewable diesel from sustainable ethanol sources. In addition to its equity investment, Suncor has contracted to take a significant portion of the SAF and renewable diesel for its customers. Once technical and economic targets have been met, further investment and a capital call are planned, says LanzaJet.

With the addition of British Airways, the company now plans to develop a further four larger scale plants producing SAF and renewable diesel to operate from 2025, possibly some or all being built in the UK subject to “improved” government policy support for waste-based SAF, it says. The early-stage work for a potential commercial facility in the UK for BA will be conducted in parallel to the construction of the Georgia plant to shorten development timescales, said a spokesperson for LanzaTech.

“Following the successful start-up of the Georgia plant, we hope to then deploy the technology and SAF production capacity in the UK,” said Doyle. “The UK has the experience and resources needed to become a global leader in the deployment of such SAF production facilities.”

British Airways and LanzaTech are also members of the Jet Zero Council, a government/industry partnership to drive the net-zero ambitions of the UK government and aviation sector, which has a focus on SAF. “We need government support to drive decarbonisation and accelerate the realisation of this vision,” added Doyle.

BA has recently teamed up with Zeroavia in a hydrogen-powered aircraft project and parent company IAG plans to invest $400 million in SAF over the next 20 years.

LanzaJet CEO Jimmy Samartzis said: “British Airways has long been a champion of waste to fuel pathways, especially with the UK government. With the right support for waste-based fuels, the UK would be an ideal location for commercial-scale LanzaJet plants.”

The LanzaTech partnership with Virgin Atlantic goes back nearly a decade. “We continue to work with Virgin Atlantic and the LanzaJet investment from BA does not affect this,” said the LanzaJet spokesperson. “We are looking forward to our continued partnership with Virgin in developing the scale-up of ATJ in the UK.”

The Freedom Pines plant will convert any source of sustainable ethanol – which can be made, for example, from non-edible agricultural residues such as wheat straw, municipal solid waste and also LanzaTech’s own developed technology that recycles waste industrial gases – into renewable jet fuel and diesel through a process patented by LanzaTech. The company claims its jet fuel delivers a reduction of more than 70% in GHG emissions compared to conventional fossil jet fuel. LanzaJet has exclusive rights to the ethanol-to-fuel process and permission to commercialise the technology, said Samartzis, who joined the company last year, having previously served at IATA, Airlines for America and United Airlines.

The new pre-commercial plant will be adjacent to the old demonstration cellulosic ethanol production facility in Soperton, 250 kms south-east of Atlanta, that LanzaTech acquired in 2012 following the collapse of Range Fuels.

“We’ve made very good progress on the engineering and fabrication front and we’re taking a very innovative approach to applying the technology, so enabling us to accelerate the pace,” reported Samartzis on the ambitious plan to start producing fuels as early as late next year.

Photo: British Airways