US sustainable aviation fuel production startup DG Fuels has selected Fischer-Tropsch (FT) technology co-developed by Johnson Matthey and energy giant bp for its proposed $4 billion SAF plant near the Mississippi River in Louisiana. Subject to approval being received this year, the St. James Parish facility could be in operation by 2028 and would be the largest announced FT SAF production operation in the world, says DG Fuels, with a planned capacity of 13,000 barrels per day, or around 120-135 million gallons of SAF annually. The FT CANS technology is feedstock agnostic although the facility will use plant waste, primarily sugar cane bagasse. Meanwhile, Southwest Airlines has acquired SAFFiRE Renewables, which is utilising technology developed at the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory to convert corn stover, a widely available agricultural residue feedstock in the US, into renewable ethanol. SAFFiRE is now expected to proceed with developing a pilot plant in Kansas to produce ethanol for conversion into SAF by LanzaJet.

Commenting on its collaboration with Johnson Matthey and bp, DG Fuels’ CEO Michael Darcy said: “Using their co-developed FT CANS technology allows DG Fuels to scale SAF at high volume production and competitive prices for the first time ever. This innovation will take our SAF from the sugar cane fields of Louisiana to cleaner skies all across the world.”

DG Fuels has already secured offtake purchase deals with Delta Air Lines and Air France-KLM, and has a strategic partnership with Airbus to scale up the use of SAF globally. Last November, Air France announced it was investing $4.7 million in the company and the Air France-KLM group acquired an option to purchase up to 25 million gallons (75,000 tons) of SAF annually over a multi-year period beginning in 2029 from the Louisiana plant and a second facility planned in Maine. This is on top of a 2022 offtake agreement by the group for 600,000 tons of SAF from DG Fuels, to be delivered over ten years.

For its first project, the company has earmarked a 3,000-acre (1,200ha) site on the West Bank of St. James Parish for potential development of the near $4bn facility. It says the project is anticipated to create 650 direct permanent jobs, with preference given to local residents and promises to address local needs while protecting the environment and promoting economic prosperity in the area.

To help secure local support for the project, DG Fuels says it has engaged with community members and local government officials to draft a legally binding Community Benefits Agreement that would provide $26 million in funding towards a community centre, a health clinic, paid internships and other benefits. The CBA received support from the St. James Parish Council in February.

The company expects to purchase $120 million of sugar cane waste from local farmers, with nearly one third of this directly benefiting farmers in St. James Parish. This provides an environmentally-friendly and financially attractive alternative to practices where farmers burn the sugar cane trash after harvesting, it adds.

“Our clean facility will have fewer air emissions than a standard US hospital, will have no impact on the Mississippi River and will help to heal our planet,” says the company. “Our fuel made from sugar cane and plant waste is clean, sustainable and created with renewable energy.”

The FT CANS technology converts synthesis gas created in the DG Fuels’ proprietary production process to synthetic crude for further processing into SAF. FT CANS is being used by Fulcrum BioEnergy to convert municipal solid waste into SAF at its Sierra plant.

“Our FT CANS technology solution brings together decades of science and engineering expertise from bp and Johnson Matthey, and this project shows its competitiveness across a range of production scales and feedstock sources the industry needs,” said Noemie Turner, VP Technology Development & Commercialisation at bp. “We’re excited to see the relationship with DG Fuels grow, and we look forward to seeing this project come to fruition.”

Added Christopher Chaput, President of DG Fuels: “With this technology, we will create a product that is responsibly made and can be immediately substituted for conventional aviation fuel with no engine adaptations. This partnership is a significant boost to help the aviation industry reach its climate goals.”

SAFFiRE acquisition

Southwest Airlines first invested in SAFFiRE Renewables during the first phase of the ethanol producer’s pilot project in 2022 and through its newly-launched Southwest Airlines Renewable Ventures (SARV) subsidiary, the airline has now moved to acquire the company. As a result, SAFFiRE is expected to proceed with phase two by developing a pilot plant hosted at Conestoga’s Arkalon Energy ethanol facility in Liberal, Kansas.

“This acquisition marks Southwest’s transition from investor to sole owner of SAFFiRE, expressing our confidence in their technology and its potential to advance our sustainability goals, as well as the goals of the broader industry,” commented the airline’s CEO, Bob Jordan.

SAFFiRE is part of a project supported by the Department of Energy (DOE) to develop and produce scalable renewable ethanol. The Kansas plant will utilise SAFFiRE’s exclusive technology licence from NREL to process 10 tons of corn stover per day into ethanol, with a plan for the ethanol to be converted into SAF by LanzaJet’s alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) technology, which partly owes its development to the DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Lab. LanzaJet was added to the SARV portfolio in February when the airline announced a $30 million investment in the ATJ company.

Another agricultural residue, corn stover is the stalks, leaves and husks of corn plants that is largely left to decompose in the fields after the corn harvest each year. SAFFiRE plans for corn stover to be collected by custom harvesters or by local farmers and processed through a proprietary Deacetylation and Mechanical Refining (DMR) technology developed by NREL, called DMR pretreatment.

“Renewable ethanol is an important feedstock to realising high-volume, affordable SAF, which is a critical part of the journey to net zero emissions,” said Tom Nealon, President of SARV and CEO of SAFFiRE. “We are enthusiastic about the ethanol-to-SAF pathway and SAFFiRE’s potential ability to produce renewable ethanol at a scale that is economically viable.”

Image: Render of the proposed DG Fuels SAF facility on the banks of the Mississippi River in Louisiana

Christopher Surgenor

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To coincide with the European Commission’s ‘Connecting Europe by Air: the Green Transformation’, event held in Lyon, France, ten flights operated by six European airlines departed Lyon Saint Exupéry Airport fuelled with a 30% blend of sustainable aviation fuel produced and supplied by TotalEnergies. A number of incoming flights to Lyon followed unrestricted, fully-optimised routings to demonstrate fuel and emissions savings as part of the European SESAR’s ALBATROSS project. As well as the flights, the airlines showcased other sustainability measures including reduced single-use plastics, crew uniforms made from recycled plastic bottles, sustainable catering and offsetting of emissions through certified climate projects, while trade body Airlines for Europe (A4E) promoted the industry’s Destination 2050 roadmap to net zero emissions. Lyon Airport has a goal to become the first commercial airport in France to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2026 within the scope of its business. During a high-level debate at the event, Transport Commissioner Adina Vălean reiterated the EU’s strong support for ICAO’s CORSIA carbon offsetting scheme.

“Despite the current challenges our sector is facing, operationally in the wake of the global pandemic, geopolitically and with rising costs – airlines’ commitment to sustainable air transport is stronger than ever,” said Thomas Reynaert, Managing Director of A4E.

Commenting on the Lyon flights, he added: “Under real operational conditions, we’ve demonstrated that increased SAF uptake and more efficient air traffic management in Europe can reduce CO2 emissions by more than 30% per flight.”

The SAF for the flights was produced from used cooking oil (UCO) at TotalEnergies’ La Mède biorefinery in southern France and, claims the company, reduces lifecycle emissions by 91.2% over its fossil-based equivalent. Briefing reporters at the event, Strategy & Sustainability Development Manager Stéphane Thion said worldwide feedstock supply for SAF was limited and production was reliant on imported UCO, mainly from Asia, and other wastes and fat residues. The transportation of feedstocks from abroad was taken into account when calculating lifecycle emissions reduction, he added.

Thion said SAF production would total around 100,000 tonnes in 2022, with a target of reaching 300 million tonnes, or 65% of total jet fuel consumption, by 2050. A big jump, he admitted, but could be achieved through the twin levers of legislation and incentives to reduce the four to five times price gap, together with the appetite and need by airlines to decarbonise their activities.

Fatima da Gloria, VP Sustainability at Air France-KLM, two of those airlines taking part in the SAF uptake at Lyon, said worldwide SAF supply was very low, given the problem of economic viability and a lack of availability of high-quality feedstocks that were not in competition with food. She thought that in time, bio-based SAF will come closer to price parity with conventional jet fuel but would be restricted by the availability of biomass, whereas advanced non-bio fuels will still be four to five times more expensive by 2030.

“We will need prioritisation of feedstocks for the hard-to-abate aviation sector as it is important to remember that every industry is going through decarbonisation,” she said, echoing the call for government and investor support to boost SAF production and narrow the price gap. She also expressed concerns over EU policies leading to carbon leakage and competitive distortions with airlines outside Europe, but welcomed moves to introduce SAF allowances, which could be granted to airlines through the EU ETS in return for uplifting SAF.

Other airlines taking part in the Connecting Europe industry showcase included Lufthansa, Transavia, Vueling and easyJet. Three of easyJet’s flights departing from Lyon uplifted SAF-blended fuel, with an incoming flight from Lisbon following a specifically designed, optimised flight plan to demonstrate the potential for significant CO2 savings if the Single European Sky was implemented. The flight used airspace normally reserved for military purposes to achieve a direct routing.

The SESAR ALBATROSS project is conducting hundreds of gate-to-gate flight trials across Europe to demonstrate how optimised ATM operations could reduce average CO2 emissions per flight by 5-10% (0.8-1.6 tonnes) by 2035 through enhanced cooperation. Although the Commission has pushed for a Single European Sky, a number of EU member states remain opposed to the move, largely on sovereignty grounds.

“Our airline has committed to net zero by 2050 when we joined Race to Zero last year. We also recently published our ‘35% by 2035’ interim target,” said Thomas Haagensen, Director Group Markets and Marketing at easyJet, who also oversees sustainability at the airline’s board level. “In order to reach this, different elements will play a role and some were showcased on our Lyon flights: we need airspace modernisation –  our SESAR-optimised flight showed what is possible – and we require affordable SAF at scale.

“Full decarbonisation cannot happen without government support, finally implementing the Single European Sky and incentivising new technologies.”

Speaking to GreenAir on the sidelines of the Lyon event, Haagensen said easyJet was supportive of SAF use in helping to reach its net zero target. “But we are quite different from other airlines, in particular the traditional and long-haul carriers,” he added. “For them, SAF is a long-term solution whereas for us, it is an interim solution. We know that by 2035 there will be net zero technology that we can transition to, which is the end game for decarbonisation. With hydrogen and electric for short-haul, we will have that as a feasible option.”

The low-cost carrier is working with a number of industry partners, including Airbus, Rolls-Royce, GKN Aerospace, Cranfield Aerospace Solutions and Wright Electric, to accelerate the development of zero carbon emission aircraft technology and the required infrastructure.

“These technologies are becoming much more tangible. We know they will come and we now need to prepare the supply chain and the infrastructure to make this happen, including the production of green hydrogen,” said Haagensen.

“We are not technology providers – our aim is to acknowledge our impact on the climate, support measures like the EU ETS and stimulate the industry, as we have with startups like Wright Electric. What we can provide is commercial expertise so that they focus on the right segments as well as providing, for example, the flying knowhow of our pilots and helping them to attract more investor funding. We don’t invest our own money but we do invest a lot of our time with them. That’s what our partners ask us for.”

Speaking in a high-level panel debate, EU Transport Commissioner Adina Vălean described the aviation sector as progressive and cutting edge. “There is a clear path to net zero that everyone involved is supporting and I’m sure the industry will achieve it,” she said. “While we will have to wait until 2035 for the disruptive technologies to arrive, sustainable aviation fuels will provide the low-hanging fruit, although we will have to work hard to create a market for them and for the prices to drop. We will also need a more efficient and optimised air traffic system.”

On global aviation issues, Vălean said it was difficult to convince international institutions like ICAO to be progressive. “What is important from my perspective right now, however, is that we must apply CORSIA because this is what we agreed at an international level. If everyone applies it, then it will be a success and we will see a reduction in global CO2. We are also engaged in supporting the international deployment of SAF, even though there are different interpretations of SAF around the world.”

In regard to reaching an agreement on a long-term decarbonisation goal at the ICAO Assembly in the autumn, Vălean said: “We will do our best to convince our international partners to raise the level of ambition. However, we have seen that even if commitments are not being signed, things are happening, for example around SAF, so we have to understand the different approaches on the international stage. We will step up our diplomacy at ICAO though to get a higher ambition agreed and supported.”

Photo (easyJet): Refuelling of easyJet Airbus aircraft at Lyon with SAF blend supplied by TotalEnergies

The SkyTeam airline alliance has just completed its first Sustainable Flight Challenge, in which member airlines demonstrated or tested initiatives in the air and on the ground to help reduce their carbon emissions, with the results to be shared across the industry. The challenge, which required participants to maximise decarbonisation measures on specific flights between May 1 and 14, attracted 16 of the alliance’s 18 members, and delivered outcomes including services part-powered by large volumes of sustainable aviation fuel and weight-saving operational measures such as the use of new, lightweight aircraft tyres. The concept of the Sustainable Flight Challenge was developed by The Bold Moves, a group of employees within SkyTeam member airline KLM, who were inspired by a 1934 air race between London and Melbourne, designed to demonstrate the possibilities of long-range commercial flights. SkyTeam adopted the KLM idea and expanded it to encourage all its member airlines and partners to participate, reports Tony Harrington. Meanwhile, SkyTeam member Saudia has undertaken what it claims is the world’s longest net positive flight through a carbon offsetting partnership with CarbonClick and aviation consultancy SimpliFlying.

“The climate crisis is the greatest challenge facing our industry, and there’s no time to lose,” commented SkyTeam on the Sustainable Flight initiative. “As airlines, we need to reshape the future of air travel for generations to come. Together, we are committed to further reducing our carbon footprint by finding new ways to cut emissions, make our fleets more efficient and better care for the world we connect. We’re challenging ourselves to innovate, reaching for new heights to find as-yet undiscovered solutions that we can put into practice across our industry.”

As originator of the Sustainable Flight Challenge, KLM operated two flights from Amsterdam as part of the project, one a Boeing 787-10 widebody service to Edmonton, Canada, the other an Embraer E190 regional jet to Porto, Portugal, each incorporating more than 50 efficiency measures, including a 39% blend of sustainable aviation fuel. Weight-saving initiatives included the use of artificial intelligence modelling to predict the amount of water needed for each flight, lightweight cargo pallets and nets, and optimised aircraft loading to ensure the best centre of gravity, to improve flight aerodynamics and reduce fuel burn by 1.5-2%. Pilots also collaborated with air traffic controllers to identify the most efficient air routes, while on the ground, business class passengers were asked to pre-select meals in order to minimise uplift of catering which would not be used, while transport companies delivering freight were asked to use vehicles powered by electricity or biodiesel fuel.

Air France also operated two flights part-powered by SAF, and performed with new, more fuel-efficient jets – an Airbus A350 from Paris to Montreal, using a 16% SAF blend produced by TotalEnergies, and an Airbus A220 from Paris to Lisbon with a 30% SAF mix, both well above the mandatory 1% blend required on all flights from France, and aligned with the airline’s target of 30% less CO2 emissions per passenger kilometre by 2030, compared to 2019. The airline said both flights were also supported by initiatives including single-engine taxiing and optimised routes, each achieving CO2 reductions of close to 45% compared to routine services. It foreshadowed greater use of AI to optimise flight paths, and use of autonomous tractors to help decarbonise baggage transport at airports.

In the US, Delta Air Lines used a Boeing 737-900ER – the most fuel-efficient aircraft type in its fleet – to operate a sustainable flight from its Atlanta home base to Salt Lake City. The plane was part-powered by 400 gallons of SAF, provided by Gevo, and the largest volume of sustainable fuel uplifted on a flight from Atlanta. The aircraft was also equipped with new main landing gear tyres which reduced weight by 100 pounds (45kgs), while at both ends of the journey the flight was serviced by 100% electric ground equipment used to transport baggage and fuel. Delta has pledged that 25% of its ground service vehicle fleet will be electrically powered by the end of 2022, up from 20% now, and rising to 50% by the end of 2025. Other features of its sustainable flight included recyclable packaging for beverages and no disposable plastic.

Another SkyTeam member, Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia), as part of the Sustainable Flight Challenge, has claimed the world’s longest net positive flight through a carbon offsetting partnership with New Zealand-based CarbonClick and aviation consultancy SimpliFlying. The airline said 346 tonnes of carbon emissions were offset from a six-hour, Boeing 787-9 flight between Jeddah and Madrid. The flight also incorporated the first in-flight ‘sustainability lab’, in which passengers contributed suggestions on how to reduce the environmental impact of flying.  To offset the flight’s emissions, CarbonClick will apply the airline’s contributions to the generation of wind-powered electricity in India, enabling wind turbines to be powered for 26 days, and delivering sustainable electricity to communities in Bhuj, in the western state of Gujurat.

SkyTeam said the pressures presented by Covid-19 meant that not all of the alliance’s member airlines could participate in the inaugural Sustainable Flight Challenge but expressed confidence that more would join in future years, with outcomes shared not only across the alliance, but further afield. “The industry as a whole will benefit from the challenge,” said SkyTeam. “That’s because everything we learn we will share open source. It’s our commitment to finding new ways to reduce our industry’s footprint and bring the future of sustainable air travel forward. What’s more, we hope to broaden participation in years to come.”

Photo: KLM

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is now adding a 0.5% proportion of sustainable aviation fuel to all flights it operates from its home base at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, one of Europe’s biggest aviation hubs. To fund the new SAF programme, a surcharge of between one and 12 euros, depending on class and distance travelled, will be added automatically to every fare on KLM flights from Schiphol, reports Tony Harrington. At the same time, French partner Air France and low-cost subsidiary Transavia will also implement the surcharge on flights departing from France and the Netherlands. France has introduced a mandate that took effect on January 1 requiring all airlines refuelling in the country to use at least 1% of SAF in their fuel mix, a proportion set to increase to 2% in 2025 and 5% in 2030. There is currently no such requirement in the Netherlands, although the EU is likely to introduce a blending mandate in 2025.

KLM said its SAF initiative was voluntary and aligned with its pledge last year to incorporate 10% SAF on all of its flights by 2030, as part of a collective commitment by 60 members of the global Clean Skies for Tomorrow Coalition.

The airline will also offer passengers the option to purchase additional sustainable fuel, the proceeds of which will support further investment in SAF produced from used cooking oil, forestry residues and sustainable synthetic sources. Air France is from today also to start offering its passengers the opportunity to make a further contribution towards the purchase of SAF, pledging that every euro donated would be invested in SAF. Air France said SAF was between four and eight times more expensive than conventional jet fuel, although it was confident the cost would fall as European SAF production began.

“The face of travel is set to change in the future, and SAF will play an essential role in this regard,” said KLM. “The CO2 emissions from SAF that KLM currently purchases are at least 75% lower than those of fossil kerosene. That is why, in the short term, SAF is the most important means of drastically reducing CO2 emissions, thus contributing to making aviation more sustainable.”

KLM has long been a proponent and pioneer of low emission fuels. In 2011, it operated the first commercial flight using blended biofuel, and last year became the first to use synthetic kerosene to part-power a commercial flight, operated by one of its Boeing 737s from Amsterdam to Madrid. In addition to large SAF purchase commitments and as a founding shareholder in Netherlands-based global SAF provider SkyNRG, the airline also participates in a range of SAF partnerships and has developed sustainable fuel purchasing options for corporate and cargo customers.

The airline said it had signed agreements with multiple partners and SAF suppliers. However, it added: “The costs for the sustainable fuel variant are at least four times higher and production is lagging behind. By increasing demand, KLM hopes to further develop the market for SAF so that supply is scaled up and sustainable fuel ultimately becomes cheaper.

“We realise that the 0.5% standard admixture on passenger tickets is a very small step, but an important one in the right direction and we hope other airlines will follow soon. We will have to work with all parties around us and come up with rock-solid solutions and innovations to further open up the market for SAF.”  

A market outlook paper produced last year by SkyNRG highlighted the shortage of SAF production capability, estimating that by 2050, 300 new plants, each producing about 100,000 tonnes of sustainable fuel per year, would be needed just to fulfil European blending mandates. The company said only 15 new plants were proposed in Europe for operation by 2027, which meant more than 10 new facilities were needed each year between 2027 and 2050.

The Air Transport Action Group went even further in its Waypoint 2050 report, which estimated that globally, airlines would need 330-445 million tonnes of SAF, or up to 511 billion litres, if they were to achieve their 2050 net emissions targets and said such a steep ambition would require the construction of between 5,000 and 7,000 new refineries.

KLM said it had already built a “relatively substantial” 0.18% share of the global SAF market but noted this was still less than 1% of its total fuel consumption. It said the 0.5% SAF blend on flights from Amsterdam would be in addition to the volumes funded by partners in the KLM Corporate SAF Programme and the Air France-KLM-Martinair Cargo SAF Programme. As well, the ability for passengers to purchase additional volumes of SAF would be added through KLM’s CO2ZERO programme, through which it is already possible to contribute to a verified reforestation project.   

In addition to its SAF initiatives, KLM has invested heavily in new, lower-emission aircraft, having recently introduced the first of a new fleet of Embraer E195-E2 regional jets, while KLM Group has just committed to an order for 100 Airbus A320 and A321 neo aircraft for use by KLM, Transavia Netherlands and Transavia France.  Deliveries will commence late in 2023, replacing Boeing 737NG aircraft. KLM has also reshaped its long-haul fleet, phasing out Boeing 747s in recent years and introducing Boeing 787 Dreamliners. 

Photo: KLM

Air France has carried out the first long-haul passenger flight to use sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) produced in Total’s French plants. The Air France A350 flew yesterday from Paris-CDG to Montreal with a fuel blend made up of 16% SAF produced from used cooking oil at Total’s La Mède biorefinery in southern France and at its Oudalle factory near Le Havre. The use of the ISCC-certified 100% French SAF avoided 20 tonnes of CO2 emissions, reported the airline. The initiative was a collaboration of Air France-KLM, Total, Airbus and the Paris airports operator Groupe ADP. The partners said that by developing and supporting France’s first industrial SAF production, this would pave the way for France to drive innovation in the industry’s energy and environmental transition. The country has introduced legislation that calls for aircraft to use at least 1% SAF by 2022 from all flights originating in France, with a wider EU ambition expected to mandate a ramp up to 2% by 2025 and 5% by 2030 as part of the European Green Deal. Meanwhile, Air bp has delivered SAF to Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne Airport in France, its first ongoing supply of the fuel in the country.

Commenting on the Air France flight, Benjamin Smith, CEO of Air France-KLM, said: “France currently has the opportunity to position itself as a leader in the production and use of sustainable fuels and we are doing everything possible to contribute to this with our partners. Supporting the emergence of an economically viable French aviation biofuel sector for all the parties involved is a strategic priority for the country and the group.”

Smith added that fleet renewal together with SAF constituted the airline group’s main lever in the medium term for achieving its target of halving CO2 emissions per passenger/km by 2030. Between 2014 and 2016, Air France carried out 78 flights powered by a 10% SAF blend in collaboration with a Total affiliate and the group said it intends to strengthen leadership in SAF in the years ahead, while contributing to research on future generations of aircraft.

To meet French SAF blending requirements, Total reported it will also produce SAF at its Grandpuits zero-crude platform near Paris as from 2024.

“After successfully launching SAF production at our facilities in France last March, we are continuing to adapt our industrial facilities to prepare for the growing demand from the aviation industry in the coming decade,” said Total CEO Patrick Pouyanné. “By directly reducing the carbon intensity of the energy products used by our aviation industry customers, we are actively working with them to achieve our ambition to get to net zero by 2050, together with society.”

The A350 used for the flight to Montreal consumes 25% less fuel than its predecessor, pointed out Air France, and the aircraft was serviced at Paris-CDG by the first 100% all-electric refuelling truck, which was developed in France with Total expertise, with all the ground support equipment used being fully electric powered.

“This first flight from Paris-CDG airport is a symbol of our ambition to decarbonise air transport by integrating SAF into aircraft,” said Groupe ADP CEO Augustin de Romanet. “The European air transport roadmap aims for zero net emissions by 2050 and we are keen, as an airport operator, to support this energy transition and to embark without delay on the path of transforming our operation process and infrastructure.”

Groupe ADP recently launched an international call for expressions of interest to build a hydrogen industry at its airports. The objective, it said, was to explore the possibility of establishing ‘hydrogen hubs’ in advance of hydrogen-powered aircraft potentially entering service by 2035, a goal set by Airbus.

Toulouse-headquartered Airbus has installed SAF refuelling stations at its industrial facilities so it can be used in production operations, as well as for aircraft deliveries. It is also conducting series of tests to certify its aircraft to fly with 100% SAF in the coming decades.

“Sustainable fuels are a major lever for achieving our objectives of decarbonising the aviation sector, and Airbus supports all initiatives that contribute to their development and use on commercial flights,” confirmed Guillaume Faury, Airbus CEO. “Coordinated action by all stakeholders is needed to increase the share of these sustainable fuels, which can be used today on up to 50% of our aircraft without any modification or operational impact, thereby reducing their environmental footprint.”

The SAF supplied by Air bp to Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne Airport was also made from ISCC-certified waste-based sustainable feedstocks such as used cooking oil and blended at around 35% with traditional jet fuel. Air bp customer Michelin Air Services was the first to uplift the SAF blend according to agreed commitments for ongoing supply at the airport. The demand from Michelin means that approximately 30% of the airport’s total volume will be supplied as this SAF blend.

“We are committed to decarbonising our flights with the use of SAF supplied by Air bp, thereby illustrating the Michelin Group’s ‘All Sustainable’ strategy,” said Corine Brunet, CEO, Michelin Air Services.

Air bp said it could supply SAF to other customers at the airport and encouraged parties interested in a supply agreement to come forward.

Said Air bp Sustainability Director Andreea Moyes: “We are excited to see our first ongoing SAF supply in France. This underlines bp’s commitment to working with stakeholders to explore its viable sale and purchase, which we believe is one of the aviation industry’s key routes to reducing carbon emissions and supports bp’s net zero ambition.”

Air bp refuels aircraft with SAF blend at Clermont-Ferrand (photo: Air bp):

Top photo: Air France A350 takes on SAF blend at Paris-CDG prior to flight to Montreal

Representatives from the European aviation sector and environmental groups, together with a research organisation and a sustainable aviation fuel supplier, have come together to provide recommendations to EU policymakers on sustainability aspects and support for future aviation fuels. Convened by two climate-based philanthropic bodies, the guiding principles drawn up by the 12 participants in the Fuelling Flight Initiative are based on a shared vision that ramping up sustainable aviation fuels in Europe needs to be done in the right manner from the start. Endorsing the initiative include Air France, Deutsche Post DHL, easyJet, KLM, International Airlines Group, Schiphol Group, Transport & Environment, WWF and SkyNRG. The move comes as EU regulators consult on revisions to the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) to bring it in line with the ambitions of the European Green Deal and the net-zero by 2050 goal.

The current directive does not ensure that fuels used in Europe meet the sustainability standards desired by civil society nor of leading airlines, believes Pete Harrison, EU Policy Director of the European Climate Foundation, which, along with ClimateWorks Foundation, convened the initiative.

“Europe must ensure that future policies only promote the most sustainable fuels for reducing the climate impact of aviation, and the EU needs to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past,” he said. “Those in the Fuelling Flight Initiative have now reached agreement on this important topic and we propose shared guidelines on how to minimise environmental impacts. Policymakers should take this into consideration when defining a policy framework that is fair, affordable and meets the highest sustainability standards without compromise.”

He was backed by KLM CEO Pieter Elbers, who said: “With our contribution to the Fuelling Flight Initiative, we support EU policymakers in defining the right framework that meets the highest sustainability standards. At the same time, we advocate affordable pricing of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in combination with requirements that are equal for all parties. With that, the road is paved for a faster uplift of SAF, helping us to decrease our impact on the planet and accelerate our ambitions towards sustainable aviation.”

Among the recommendations put forward in a consensus statement published by the initiative are to:

• prioritise e-fuels and fuels made from wastes and residues;
• exclude biofuels produced from dedicated cropland;
• execute case-by-case assessments of local environmental impacts; and to
• support multiple technology pathways.

The statement notes that despite two phases of EU policy support through RED and the Fuel Quality Directive, European investment in advanced biofuels production had so far been subdued and EU biofuel use had been dominated by fuels with high sustainability risks. Future policy support should only go to fuels with high carbon reductions compared to fossil fuels, which would provide a solid foundation for securing future investment in SAF development as well as contributing to broader UN Sustainable Development Goals, it says.

The initiative’s participants call for SAF policy to be informed by bottom-up assessment of feedstock availability in conjunction with a review of existing demands across different transport modes and cautions against high SAF mandates in the near term that could drive unsustainable behaviour, such as high-intensity extraction of residues with existing uses or the diversion of land to meet SAF demand.

“Any potential SAF deployment targets must balance the availability of sustainable feedstocks with the necessary ambition and complementary policy support to drive investment in more challenging advanced fuel pathways,” they recommend.

Over the next few years, waste oils may deliver small volumes of low-carbon SAF but, says the statement, the EU must invest in fuels made from more abundant resources such as agricultural residues, municipal bio-waste and electrofuels (e-fuels). It emphasises the importance of selecting which wastes and residues are sustainably available for SAF production.

“The precise guidelines for sustainable availability will by necessity vary by location and on a feedstock-by-feedstock basis,” it adds. “For example, the guidelines for agricultural residues will be different than those for forestry wastes and municipal solid waste (MSW).”

The participants agree the theoretical availability of fuels of non-biological origin greatly exceeds the potential of fuels made from wastes and residues. These include fuels generated from industrial waste gases, although they say it is important these fuels do not provide a continued business case for fossil fuel use and full lifecycle assessments must be undertaken to ensure the fuel generates real GHG reductions relative to the fossil baseline, including indirect effects.

E-fuels made from captured carbon in conjunction with renewable electricity or concentrated sunlight is expected to be another important source of non-bio SAF in the long term. Again, stresses the statement, policymakers must ensure both the renewable electricity used to produce them and the carbon captured for fuel production are not incentivised by power sector policies or otherwise double-counted towards those policies.

“Therefore, it is critical to ensure that these fuels are produced from additional renewable electricity and their CO2 use, if not captured from the atmosphere, does not provide a continued business case for fossil fuel use.”

The statement envisions a three-phased approach to SAF deployment based on technology readiness and feedstock availability. In the first phase through 2025, waste oils are the likeliest source of low-carbon fuel due to their low carbon intensity and ease of conversion. However, there is competition for such fuels and policymakers may choose not to incentivise their diversion from the road sector towards the aviation sector. Even with diversion, the penetration of waste oils in aviation will be limited but their use would constitute a meaningful first step, argues the statement.

Scaling up SAF deployment in the 2025-2035 timeframe will require utilising more technically challenging feedstocks through the commercialisation of emerging technologies. More abundant sources of sustainable feedstock are expected to come from lignocellulosic residues and wastes such as MSW and agricultural and forestry residues.

To meet long-term decarbonisation targets and deeper deployment rates, the participants say it will require the use of fuels with greater availability than bio-based wastes and residues, with e-fuels offering substantial long-term potential for supplying SAF, as there are fewer constraints to their production volumes. However, acknowledges the statement, the high cost of supplying additional renewable electricity makes this one of the most expensive options for reducing aviation emissions. Despite the initial high costs, policy support for e-fuels over the next decade could help bring down the capital costs for electrolysers and introduce the policy framework that would link transportation energy demand to new, additional renewable electricity from the power sector.

Concluding, the statement recommends the European Commission proposes higher sustainability standards than those currently laid out in the RED, including clear exclusions of unsustainable feedstocks and pathways, such as biofuels from dedicated croplands and palm oil production by-products (PFAD). The revised framework should also incentivise levels of SAF and/or feedstock use that could be met only from domestic EU supplies.

“To meet aviation’s climate targets, it is essential to start scaling SAF production capacity rapidly, in collaboration with all relevant stakeholders including governments and NGOs,” commented Maarten van Dijk, Managing Director of sustainable aviation fuel supplier SkyNRG. “Long-term, stable policy frameworks are key to enable scale-up, and a clear exclusion of unsustainable feedstocks and pathways is, in our opinion, an important part of future policy.”

Added Andrew Murphy, Aviation Director at Transport & Environment: “The aviation fuels policy Europe launches this year will be crucial in determining whether the air travel sector is finally put on a path to sustainability. Europe needs to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past by ending support for crop-based biofuels and instead support new fuels, in particular e-fuels derived from additional renewable electricity. This statement is an important recognition by a wide range of actors of this need.”

The 10 participants in the initiative are Air France, Bauhaus Luftfahrt, Deutsche Post DHL Group, easyJet, International Airlines Group, KLM, Natuur & Milieu, T&E, Réseau Action Climat, Schiphol Group, SkyNRG and WWF. Technical advice was provided by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT).

The European Commission launched a public consultation in November on a revision of the Renewable Energy Directive, which closes on February 9.

Photo: KLM