Carriers meeting at the annual Airlines for Europe (A4E) Summit in Brussels called on policymakers to “supercharge” the production of sustainable aviation fuels across Europe through the introduction of competitive tax credits and the funding and support for nascent, emerging and established SAF projects or fuel producers. It is crucial that Europe supports affordable and reliable domestic production, they said in a “call to action”, particularly in the face of significant market pressure from global players outside of Europe. Meanwhile, A4E member Lufthansa Group has reported more than one million passengers have opted for its Green Fares tickets, which includes a provision for SAF offsetting, one year after their launch. European renewable fuels producer Neste has started supplies of blended SAF at Schiphol under an agreement with Emirates, while Sasol and Topsoe have launched their new joint venture Zaffra, located in Amsterdam, that will focus on SAF development and delivery.

At the forefront of A4E’s “call to action” is what it describes as “competitive decarbonisation” in a global market, to ensure Europe is a world leader in aviation’s net zero transformation.

“The next few years provide a real opportunity for change and we are setting out how we want to future-proof flying,” said A4E Managing Director Ourania Georgoutsakou at the opening to the trade body’s Summit in Brussels. “We are today making a pledge to improve the future of flying but can only do this if policymakers make the vital changes to support our decarbonisation efforts, providing real airspace reform, ensuring our sector remains competitive and completing a true single aviation market.”

A4E member airlines have been involved in a number of SAF commitments this month. International Airlines Group (IAG), made up of Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia and other carriers, signed a 14-year agreement with US startup Twelve for the supply of 785,000 tonnes of e-SAF, the groups biggest single SAF deal to date and the first e-SAF procurement by a European airline group (see article).

Following its purchase of 500 tonnes of SAF from Austrian energy company OMV last year, Ryanair reported it would take an additional 500 tonnes in 2024. Under an MoU between the two companies, Ryanair has access to purchase up to 160,000 tonnes of SAF during the period to 2030.

Another A4E member, AEGEAN, which first flew with SAF in 2021, is to expand its use of SAF under an agreement with Shell and MOH Aviation, who will supply a “significant” quantity of blended SAF at Stockholm Arlanda and London Heathrow airports. The Greek carrier said this marked the beginning of a gradual expansion of its SAF uplift programme, “where available”, throughout its entire network.

According to Lufthansa Group, an average of 3% of passengers have used its Green Fares tickets, with the tickets being selected by 11% of business class travellers via the Lufthansa Group portals. In total, travellers have offset around 77,000 tonnes of CO2. Offsetting of flight CO2 emissions is through SAF as well as by a contribution to high-quality climate protection projects. The group ensures the amount of SAF required for offsetting is fed into the airport infrastructure within six months of purchase.

Green Fares are available with Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, SWISS, Edelweiss, Discover Airlines and Air Dolomiti on more than 730,000 flights per year within Europe and to Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. The group has been testing Green Fares on selected long-haul routes since November 2023.

Meanwhile, Finland-headquartered Neste has launched Neste Impact for businesses looking to reduce the carbon footprint of their air travel and transport activities. The solution is aligned with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), enabling businesses to credibly report achieved emission savings and follows a book-and-claim approach. The related emission reduction achieved is third-party verified and further validated through the ISCC SAFc registry. Neste ensures the SAF is supplied to a partner airline and the purchased amount is verifiably used to replace fossil fuel.

UAE carrier Emirates has activated its fuel agreement with Neste at Amsterdam Schiphol and 2 million gallons of blended SAF will be supplied into the airport’s fuelling system over the course of 2024. The blended SAF will comprise over 700,000 gallons of neat SAF. The airline will track the delivery of SAF into the fuelling system and the environmental benefits using standard industry accounting methodologies.

Global chemicals and energy company Sasol and Danish carbon emission reduction technology specialist Topsoe have launched their joint venture, named Zaffra, which will be based in Amsterdam. The partners say the new company, to be headed by former Shell Aviation boss Jan Toschka, aims to advance SAF production and technologies.

Photo © Lufthansa Group

Christopher Surgenor

Editor

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Two of Europe’s largest airline groups, Lufthansa and Ryanair, have committed to acquiring a total of almost 1 million tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel from Vienna-based global energy company OMV in two newly-announced offtake deals. Lufthansa Group has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to acquire more than 800,000 tonnes of the fuel from OMV between 2023 and 2030, significantly building upon an agreement earlier this year to supply SAF to Lufthansa subsidiary Austrian Airlines at Vienna Airport. Low-cost carrier Ryanair has also signed an MoU to take up to 160,000 tonnes of OMV’s product over the next eight years as part of a pledge that by 2030, 12.5% of its jet fuel will be SAF. Under this deal, OMV will supply SAF to Ryanair in Austria, Germany and Romania, markets in which the airline collectively serves 17 airports.

Lufthansa Group and Ryanair are both blue chip aviation clients for OMV, which has group annual revenues of €36 billion ($36bn) and is transitioning from an integrated oil, gas and chemicals company to a become a major provider of products including sustainable fuels. It currently produces SAF by co-processing sustainable and regional raw materials, particularly used cooking oil, and plans to scale up its annual SAF production to 700,000 tonnes in 2030.

Both airline companies have already announced significant SAF deals with other companies and are keen not only to boost their own supplies, but also the volume of industry demand to help increase general production and drive down the costs of the fuel.

A long-term advocate of SAF, Lufthansa Group is comprised a range of prominent European airline brands, including Lufthansa German Airlines, Lufthansa Cityline, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings Discover, Air Dolomiti and Edelweiss, though whether all would have access to the OMV SAF was not disclosed. Announcing its new SAF deal, Lufthansa said it had set ambitious climate protection goals and was exploring a range of alternative fuels on its path to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. The expanded partnership with OMV includes the establishment of new locations for SAF production and delivery, and development of new SAF production technologies.

“The Lufthansa Group is continuously reviewing options for long-term purchase agreements and is already the largest SAF customer in Europe,” the company said. “By 2030, the aviation group wants to halve its net CO2 emissions compared to 2019. Special focus is placed on the forward-looking power-to-liquid and sun-to-liquid technologies, which use renewable energies or solar thermal energy as carriers.”

In addition to increased use of SAF, Lufthansa Group’s emissions reduction strategy also includes fleet renewal, optimised flight operations and offers to customers to help make passenger or cargo flights carbon neutral, a package of actions which was validated by the Science Based Targets Initiative in August 2022. “This makes the Lufthansa Group the first aviation group in Europe with a scientifically-based CO2 reduction target in line with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015,” the company said.

The Ryanair deal, which enables the carrier to purchase up to 160,000 tonnes of SAF from OMV by 2030, will save an estimated 400,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions over the life of the contract, equivalent to around 25,000 Ryanair Boeing 737 flights from Dublin, the airline’s home, to Vienna, it says.

“SAF plays a key role in our Pathway to Net Zero decarbonisation strategy in which we have committed to increasing our use of SAF over the coming years – a commitment that this deal with OMV will help move further forward,” said Thomas Fowler, Ryanair’s Director of Sustainability. “OMV is a key partner for Ryanair in Austria, Germany and Romania, and we look forward to growing this partnership as Europe’s largest airline group.”

The airline has pledged that by 2030, 12.5% of the jet fuel it uses will be SAF, an initiative which parallels a $22 billion investment in new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, which produce 16% lower emissions than the airline’s current technology fleet. Ryanair has also partnered with Trinity College in Dublin to establish the Sustainable Aviation Research Centre, which will determine the sustainability of SAF by analysing the lifecycle greenhouse gases emitted in production, develop ‘pre-screening tools’ to accelerate the certification of new SAF variants, and assess the feasibility of zero-carbon aircraft propulsion systems. 

Nina Marczell, OMV’s VP Aviation, Fuels Distributors and Public Sector, said the MoU with Ryanair presented a great opportunity for both companies to progress their sustainability plans. “We are committed to reducing our own carbon footprint as well as supporting our customers in reducing theirs,” she said. “Sustainable aviation fuel significantly reduces CO2 emissions and we are delighted to collaborate with a strong partner like Ryanair, and to provide solutions for the sustainable development of the aviation industry.”  

Photo: OMV (andreasjakwerth.com)

The demand for SAF is high but supply remains limited as facilities are still under construction, and production in many cases is years away. But since last year, several oil companies have started producing SAF through co-processing, which is giving SAF supply a boost. In July 2021, NetJets Europe became the first customer to purchase Air bp’s ISCC PLUS certified SAF produced through co-processing of waste fats and used cooking oil in bp’s Castellon refinery in Spain. Other oil companies have followed in rapid succession to announce SAF production through co-processing, including Phillips 66 (UK), TotalEnergies (France), OMV (Austria), Eni (Italy) and bp (Germany). Phillips 66 has just supplied British Airways with a first batch of SAF produced at its Humber Refinery in the UK under a multi-year agreement. Why are the big oil companies choosing this route? Susan van Dyk takes an in-depth look at co-processing, what it means, who is doing it and what volumes of SAF are produced this way.

Andreea Moyes, Air bp’s Global Aviation Sustainability Director, explains her company’s rationale for co-processing: “As an integrated energy company, our ambition is to be a net-zero company by 2050 or sooner and to help the world get to net zero. Part of this is cutting the carbon intensity of the products we sell, such as jet fuel. We believe that all technologies and pathways, including co-processing, are needed to help the industry decarbonise.”

Co-processing is the simultaneous processing of biobased material, such as fats, oils and other feedstocks, with fossil-based feeds in refinery infrastructure. Using an existing refinery can offer benefits in terms of cost savings and carbon reduction as it removes the need to build dedicated processing units. The high market demand for SAF is playing a role in refinery decisions to co-process.

Explained Fabian Wedam, Head of Aviation at OMV Group: “Market demand for sustainable products is increasing sharply in the short to mid term and large scale dedicated SAF production units require a significant lead time for construction.” Co-processing is a stepping stone since existing assets can be used and only limited investments are needed, he said. Co-processing allows OMV to access the growing market for sustainable products in the short term using existing assets and infrastructure in OMV’s refineries. Last December, OMV signed an agreement to supply Austrian Airlines with 1,500 tonnes of SAF produced at its Schwechat Refinery during 2022.

Oil companies have the resources and expertise to produce SAF through co-processing using existing refinery infrastructure and limited investment. “Utilising the existing refinery infrastructure and their links to existing supply networks play an important role in increasing the supply of SAF,” said Moyes. The bp refinery in Lingen has started production of SAF from used cooking oil, marking the first industrial production facility in Germany using co-processing to produce SAF from waste and residues.

Co-processing enables an oil company to quickly become relevant in a net-zero world. According to Bernardo Fallas, Director of Corporate Communications at Phillips 66, “co-processing is one of the ways the Humber Refinery is positioning itself as a refinery of the future.” Phillips 66 believes markets for lower-carbon products are growing, he said. The agreement with British Airways demonstrates its Humber Refinery’s ability to supply them. The airline has just announced it has taken delivery of the first batch of SAF produced by the refinery, which it says is the first commercial-scale SAF to be supplied in the UK (see article). The blended fuel will be supplied by pipeline to several UK airports, including London Heathrow.

“We were the first in the UK to co-process waste oils to produce renewable fuels and now we will be the first to produce SAF at scale,” said Darren Cunningham, Lead Executive UK and General Manager for Phillips 66’s Humber Refinery. “We’re currently refining almost half a million litres of sustainable waste feedstocks a day, and this is just a start.”

Fallas added the Humber Refinery recently increased renewable fuel produced through co-processing from 1,000 bpd to 3,000 bpd, and the refinery aims to expand renewable fuels capacity to 5,000 bpd by 2024.

So what are the current volumes of SAF supplied through co-processing by others in the market? Air bp’s Moyes indicated her company has already produced more than 5,000 barrels per day (bpd) of biofuels (approximately 200-250 million litres total volume of biofuel, although SAF is not the only product) at three refineries through co-processing and aims to triple production by 2030 across these sites. According to Wedam, the planned production of SAF by the OMV Group for 2022 will be 2,000 tonnes, or about 2.3 million litres, of co-processed SAF.

The potential volumes of SAF that a refinery can produce through co-processing is currently limited by ASTM D1655. The standard only permits co-processing of 5% vegetable oils or waste oils and fats, and Fischer-Tropsch synthetic liquids for SAF production. Although 5% may seem a small amount, it could still be considerable if the scale of refinery operations is considered. Bp’s Castellon and Lingen refineries each have a capacity of about 100,000 barrels per day, so 5% amounts to 5,000 bpd (about 200-250 million litres per year).

However, indicated Steve Csonka, Executive Director of the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI) in the US, the 5% “current maximum co-processing volumetric limits are being assessed by a standing ASTM Task Force for possible increase, with broader voting to be accomplished upon the Task Force’s completion in the coming months.”

Moyes confirmed: “Air bp is leading the Task Force seeking to increase the sustainable aviation fuel content of traditional jet available from refineries co-processing renewable feedstocks. The hope is to raise the limit from 5% to 30% to benefit customers and global supply.” Increasing the feedstock limits for co-processing are likely to have a significant impact on the volumes of SAF that could be supplied via this route.

SAF produced through co-processing can be certified as sustainable and is also recognised under CORSIA as an eligible fuel. According to Air bp, the SAF produced through co-processing and supplied to Netjets received ISCC PLUS certification. The SAF had an attributed saving of around 80% carbon emissions over its lifecycle compared with conventional jet fuel based on a mass balance approach. It should be noted that this value is only calculated based on the renewable content in the finished fuel. ISCC has developed a guidance document on the certification of co-processing to assist companies. Various methods or a mixture of methods are permitted to calculate the bio-yield, including radiocarbon 14 analysis, to ensure that only the renewable content is counted.

All the co-processing activities mentioned used fats and oils feedstocks, in most cases waste fats and used cooking oils (UCO). The types of feedstock are currently restricted under ASTM D1655 and limited to fats and oils, and Fischer-Tropsch synthetic liquids. FT syncrude is not currently used in co-processing as it is not commercially available at this time. Other feedstocks may be permitted in future if ASTM certification is achieved, usually a very rigorous process.

“Feedstock availability, as well as reliability of supply and quality, will be one of the key challenges in the future,” said OMV’s Wedam. “Already today, the market for SAF-suitable feedstock is very competitive. Lipid feedstocks will not be sufficient once the aviation industry moves further towards carbon neutrality.”

Feedstock challenges

The challenge with future availability of waste oils and fats feedstock for SAF production has been confirmed in an ICF report, ‘Fueling net zero’. Renewable diesel and biodiesel compete for the same feedstock, and significant expansion of renewable diesel facilities will soon place a constraint on supply.

According to Moyes, bp recognises that “increasing feedstock availability is an important part of increasing overall SAF production and there are two elements to this. Firstly, as most commercial production today uses HEFA feedstocks, increasing these in the short-term is key. In support of this, bp recently entered into a 10-year strategic agreement with Nuseed enabling Nuseed to accelerate the expansion of its Carinata sustainable production programme.

“Secondly, bp plays an ongoing role in researching and developing the technologies required to bring the different SAF production technology options to commercial production. This widens the feedstocks that can be used. For example, bp and Johnson Matthey have developed a simple-to-operate and cost-advantaged Fischer-Tropsch technology that can operate both at large and small scale to economically convert synthesis gas, generated from sources such as municipal solid waste and other renewable biomass, into long-chain hydrocarbons suitable for the production of SAF. Using all technology options, we believe there is enough feedstock availability to meet the industry’s SAF requirements.”

Other feedstocks that have great potential for co-processing are bio-oils/biocrudes produced through technologies such as fast pyrolysis (bio-oils), catalytic pyrolysis or hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL, biocrudes). Unlike fats and oils, these biocrudes can be produced from wastes such as forest or agricultural residues that are available in far greater volumes. However, these technologies are at various stages of technology readiness.

The recently completed Pyrocell plant in Sweden, using BTG Bioliquids’ fast pyrolysis technology, has started producing bio-oil, which will be co-processed by Preem at the Lysekil refinery in Sweden to produce renewable diesel and gasoline. Note that the feedstock limitations under ASTM D1655 for SAF production do not apply to other fuel products. Preem, considered the leader in co-processing activities, has co-processed 30% tall oil methyl esters into drop-in fuels for more than a decade. Following a revamp last year, Preem’s Gothenburg refinery is currently able to co-process 95% tall oil methyl esters and tallow, according to Fredrik Hellesöy, Strategic Business Development Manager at Preem. This highlights the unlimited potential of co-processing to produce significant volumes of low-carbon intensity fuels.

Due to the current feedstock limitations under ASTM D1655, Preem is not producing SAF, but if the 5% limit is increased to 30%, SAF production will become economically feasible, said Hellesöy. For Preem, co-processing is just a step on the way to full conversion, he stated.

Co-processing can increase the supply of sustainably certified SAF in the short-term at current co-processing limits and could become more significant if these limits are increased, and other feedstocks are certified under ASTM. Using existing refinery infrastructure allows for more rapid production of SAF as construction of new facilities proceed. At the same time, it is part of the long-term business strategies of oil companies for a net-zero future.

“This strategy secures long-term business in an ever-changing world and supports the company’s commitment to a sustainable energy future,” said Fallas at Phillips 66.

Added Martin Thomsen, CEO, Air bp: “We believe SAF is one of the aviation industry’s key routes to reducing carbon emissions, and ISCC PLUS certified SAF is the first step towards developing new refining and commercial solutions, including those that achieve CORSIA certification, to keep decarbonising our offers for our aviation customers. Co-processing is an important step in replacing fossil fuel with renewable feedstocks within refineries.”

Photo: The bp refinery in Lingen, Germany (© bpPLC)

Susan van Dyk

GreenAir Correspondent

www.svdconsulting.ca

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Austrian Airlines has signed up for 1,500 tonnes of SAF from oil, gas and chemicals company OMV to fuel the airline’s short-to-medium haul aircraft at Vienna International Airport from March 2022. The fuel will be produced at OMV’s Schwechat Refinery, co-processing used cooking oil (UCO) collected in Austria and supplied to the airline via a direct pipeline to the airport, reports Tony Harrington. Austrian Airlines is part of the Lufthansa Group, which has committed to halving its net CO2 emissions by 2030 and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.  By using the OMV-produced SAF, Austrian said it would reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 3,750 tonnes, equivalent to the output of 333 Vienna-London flights by an Airbus A320 jet. The fuel will be part-funded by passengers via Lufthansa’s Compensaid platform, which enables them to offset their share of aircraft emissions by contributing to the purchase of SAF.  

The Austrian Airlines’ SAF agreement with OMV is following a similar pathway to that of the Phillips 66 supply to British Airways announced last week (see article), where the refinery process, which produces green, or renewable, diesel, can be repurposed to produce renewable jet fuel through co-processing. While conventional methods blend in the biofuel component from vegetable oil or used cooking oil only after the diesel has been produced, with co-processing the biofuel is processed together with the crude in a hydrotreatment plant. Here, hydrogen is added to the oil mixture, thereby removing non-desirable components such as oxygen and other impurities to produce a pure hydrocarbon. The Schwechat Refinery started producing biodiesel through co-processing in 2016 and it now plans to build a plant capable of processing up to 160,000 tonnes of biogenic feedstock every year from 2023.

“The advantage of co-processing is that there are no technical limitations regarding the raw materials,” said Gudrun Kollmitzer, Head of Bio & Feedstock, OMV Downstream. “At present, the limiting factor is rather one of availability. The oil used is heavily dependent on supply. Not all feedstocks are available in the requisite quality and quantity.”

SAF technical expert and GreenAir contributor Susan van Dyk commented that for renewable jet fuel produced through co-processing, current insertion volumes under ASTM aviation fuel regulations are only permitted to a maximum of 5%. “However, this is a very quick and easy way to expand SAF volumes as no new infrastructure needs to be built,” she said. “There are many refineries already producing renewable diesel by this method and there are at least five refineries in Europe and some in the US that will start producing SAF through co-processing.”

Austrian said using UCO makes the entire production chain as regional as possible, keeping transportation to a minimum and makes for a CO2 reduction of more than 80% over the entire lifecycle compared to conventional kerosene. One key technical advantage, it added, was the existing infrastructure can be used for storage and fuelling via the direct pipeline connection to the airport.

Alexis von Hoensbroech, Chief Executive of Austrian Airlines, said the use of SAF was a key means of cutting aircraft emissions. “Now,” he added, “the task is to work with policymakers towards a location-based initiative to meet the EU blending mandates from 2025 onwards, and hopefully even surpass them.”

OMV’s CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board, Alfred Stern, said SAF represented “a readily available, easily applicable way of reducing emissions, and are equivalent to conventional fuels in terms of quality and performance. We are very serious about our role in the energy transition and will continue to work on reducing the CO2 intensity of our portfolio in the future.”   

Photo: OMV