European freight airline Cargolux and one of its key global partners, Bolloré Logistics, have announced plans to acquire 800,000 litres of sustainable aviation fuel for use in their joint operations, enabling the carrier to reduce carbon emissions generated by Bolloré’s shipments, and the logistics company to cut its own Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions by at least 2,200 tonnes. The agreement follows the establishment late last year of the Cargolux Corporate SAF Program and builds on a growing trend for freight airlines to collaborate with major partners in order to mutually reduce the carbon emissions of cargo flights – a supercharged version of the SAF purchasing programmes increasingly used by corporations and individuals to reduce their travel carbon footprint, reports Tony Harrington. Another major operator, Lufthansa Cargo has also struck SAF deals with major logistics partners including DB Schenker and Kuehne+Nagel, and recently announced a deal with the latter company to promote and progress the use of new power-to-liquid synthetic fuels.

Luxembourg-based Cargolux operates 30 Boeing 747-400 and 747-8 freighters on both scheduled and chartered cargo flights to 75 destinations. While not releasing details of its SAF procurement plans, it has declared a commitment to securing “current and next generation sustainable fuels” as part of a broader drive to help decarbonise the air cargo industry and global supply chains.

“Cargolux is strongly committed to the development and use of sustainable aviation fuel, and has foreseen investment in SAF-related projects over the coming years,” said Domenico Ceci, the airline’s EVP for Sales and Marketing. “The agreement we signed with our long-term partner Bolloré Logistics is a significant achievement, and one we hope to build on in the future. Taking this step with a trusted customer is important for Cargolux and it highlights both our companies’ engagement for environmentally-sound operations.”

The Deputy COO of Paris-based Bolloré Logistics, Pierre Houe, said SAF was a key element in his company’s CSR programme, ‘Powering Sustainable Logistics’, through which it aims to reduce its Scope 3 transport emissions to 30% below 2019 levels.  “Building a strong partnership with a crucial partner like Cargolux is critical to enable the aviation industry to operate a transition towards a more sustainable future,” he said. “We are very glad to engage in this journey together.”

Bolloré has also created a programme called AIRsaf, which includes reusable packaging and low-carbon transportation before and after SAF-powered flights, to help support decarbonisation targets “well below the 2 degrees Celsius trajectory” set as part of the Paris climate agreement.

In Germany, Lufthansa Cargo has joined with Swiss logistics group Kuehne+Nagel to invest in new power-to-liquid SAF, or synthetic fuel, produced from repurposed CO2. Though this fuel is still in development, the companies have agreed to buy the equivalent of 20 tonnes, or 25,000 litres annually, from the world’s first production site for synthetic crude, a facility operated by Bonn-based NGO atmosfair in the town of Werlte, in the north-west of the country. The first synthetic aviation fuel from the plant will be produced this year.

“A successful and sustainable transformation of air freight can only succeed if we join forces with strong partners, which is why we are very proud to have Kuehne+Nagel at our side as a supporter of this forward-looking technology,” said Dorothea von Boxberg, CEO of Lufthansa Cargo. To highlight the companies’ shared commitment to synthetic fuel, a Lufthansa Cargo Boeing 777 freighter has been jointly branded and specially themed with the slogans ‘Flying into the future CO2-neutral’ and ‘Power-to-Liquid Sustainable Aviation Fuel’.

Yngve Ruud, a member of the Kuehne+Nagel management board responsible for air logistics, said the company had seen strong interest from customers wanting to reduce carbon emissions generated by their freight shipments. “The synthetic SAF project with Lufthansa Cargo is of utmost importance for our joint mission of CO2-neutral aviation,” he said. “With the new Boeing 777 freighter in Kuehne+Nagel’s livery, we are sending a strong signal of our company’s commitment to sustainable airfreight.”

Lufthansa Cargo and Kuehne+Nagel have already jointly used biogenic SAF, such as synthetic fuel incorporating used cooking oils. Power-to-liquid fuels differ because they are produced from sustainably generated electricity, water and CO2, and are considered carbon neutral.  “The power-based fuels are currently still in the development stage towards industrial production,” said the companies, “but are already considered a long-term alternative to conventional kerosene or biogenic SAF, as they are theoretically to be produced without availability limits.”

In a separate initiative, Lufthansa Cargo and DB Schenker have extended until October 2022 a series of CO2-neutral cargo flights between Frankfurt and Shanghai. The Boeing 777 freighter services, tested late in 2020, and upgraded to regular charters in 2021, use a combination of SAF and “additional compensation” to reduce or offset emissions. Thorsten Meincke, Global Board Member for Air and Ocean Freight at DB Schenker, said: “Alternative fuels help us to realise change, not just as a vision for the future, but today.”

Photo: Cargolux

The world’s first power-to-liquid plant producing carbon neutral renewable electricity-based synthetic aviation fuel, or e-kerosene, has opened in Emsland in northern Germany and is operated by climate protection organisation atmosfair. Lufthansa Group is a partner in the pioneering project, with Lufthansa Cargo and logistics company Kuehne+Nagel among the first customers, having committed to an annual minimum purchase of 25,000 litres for at least five years. The plant is currently in the commissioning phase and partly operative, with regular operations expected to start in the first quarter of 2022 when eight barrels of e-kerosene will be produced daily from water, renewable electricity from nearby wind turbines, waste CO2 from food waste processed at a biogas plant and from direct air capture. The synthetic crude will be transported to the Heide refinery near Hamburg for conversion into Jet A1 for use at Hamburg Airport. Atmosfair also has plans to offer e-kerosene to private customers through its website as an addition to its existing carbon offset programme and also through travel agencies.

The atmosfair plant was officially opened on October 4 by German Environment Minister Svenja Schulze, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer contributing video messages. “Atmosfair shows the way in which we can improve our carbon footprint in air transport and your pioneering spirit and commitment demonstrate how this can be done,” said the Chancellor.

Climate scientist and atmosfair patron Prof Mojib Latif told over 100 guests at the inauguration: “This summer’s global extreme weather events and the new IPCC report make it abundantly clear that the global economy must steer away from fossil fuels urgently. This also applies to aviation. Atmosfair, together with German business, is taking on a pioneering role here, entirely without public funding. This shows we do not have to wait for the big oil companies when it comes to climate action in this field.”

Christina Foerster, a member of Deutsche Lufthansa’s Executive Board, said the Group’s airlines were the largest customers of sustainable aviation fuels in Europe. Until now, these fuels have been of biogenic origin, she said, but “synthetic fuels from renewable energies are the kerosene of the future and enable CO2-neutral aviation. In our partnership with atmosfair, we are taking a lead and providing a boost to the production of synthetic fuels.”

Added Lufthansa Cargo CEO Dorothea von Boxberg: “We clearly see the key to a sustainable reduction of our emissions in flight operations in the research and use of synthetic, sustainable aviation fuels. The fact that we are now pioneering power-to-liquid technology together with Kuehne+Nagel makes us particularly proud and shows we are actively tackling our climate protection challenges.”

Once the plant starts regular operations, Atmosfair plans, via its carbon offsetting site, to offer e-kerosene to its private customers as an option.

More than 5,500 QTA travel agencies across Germany are also planning to offer their customers atmosfair e-kerosene as a voluntary climate add-on to their booked journeys. “After the pandemic, the restart of tourism has to be green since the climate challenge remains central to the travel industry,” said Albin Loidl of QTA, Germany’s largest travel agency alliance, who added he would be lobbying within the Germany travel industry on the use of e-kerosene.

Atmosfair says it will sell the e-kerosene at cost, which it concedes is still very high at over €5 ($5.80) per litre, according to studies. The biggest impact comes from the high price of electricity in Germany but costs could be much lower in countries with access to solar power. “However, we wanted to take the first step here in Germany to try out the technology and gain experience,” explained atmosfair’s Dietrich Brockhagen.

The electricity for the plant comes from wind turbines in the surrounding area, partly within sight of the plant, which will be dropping out of the guaranteed German feed-in tariff scheme support in 2022 but atmosfair is providing additional financing to ensure the e-kerosene is not subsidised by residential power consumers.

The plant covers an area of around 1,000 square metres and a Siemens electrolyser produces green hydrogen from water. CO2, the second resource in the process, comes from waste CO2 from the biogas plant of local energy supplier EWE or captured directly from ambient air.

“Direct air capture is currently still new and expensive but for the Paris climate goals, we need this path in the long term and that is why we must start testing and developing it today,” said Brockhagen.

Added Stefano Innocenzi, EVP New Energy Business at Siemens Energy: “Our technology for the production of green hydrogen will be crucial for the decarbonisation of the transport sector. This new synthetic kerosene plant is an important step towards commercial large-scale plants, which we will build with our partners.”

Prof Latif foresees follow-up plants in developing countries. “The energy transition is a task of global cooperation. With this new technology, we have the chance to reshape energy partnerships between industrialised and developing countries on an equal footing. Then jobs will be created on both sides and enable technology transfer,” he said.

Atmosfair says the e-kerosene is carbon neutral because it only emits as much CO2 during combustion as was removed from the atmosphere for its production, whether directly or via the biogas plant. The neutrality is certified by TÜV.

The organisation has also developed a voluntary standard called Fairfuel for future producers of e-kerosene. It is intended, says atmosfair, to prevent synthetic kerosene from being produced using fossil sources such as from coking in steel production or from coal-fired power plants.

“How green really is the electricity and how sustainable is the CO2 that is used? These are crucial questions for the environmental integrity and climate benefits of e-kerosene,” said Dr Harry Lehmann of the German Environment Agency who coordinated the e-kerosene criteria with atmosfair.

“We have built a plant that shows climate integrity causes almost no additional costs,” added Brockhagen. “For the follow-up plants in developing countries, we will make sure the plants also benefit the population, for example by producing additional electricity at socially acceptable prices for the region.”

Top photo: Lufthansa Cargo CEO Dorothea von Boxberg at the plant’s inuguration ceremony

Below: Inauguration of the plant (in German)