Airbus is to collaborate with two major airlines, European low-cost operator Wizz Air and full-service Taiwanese international carrier EVA Air, to help each prepare for the imminent introduction of sustainable aviation fuel. The airframer will partner with Wizz Air for SAF-powered trials of Airbus A321neo jets on two key routes, from Barcelona and Brussels Charleroi to the airline’s hub in Budapest, in readiness for the introduction next year of the SAF usage mandates at EU airports under the ReFuelEU plan. Airbus will also work with EVA Air for the next two years to explore multiple ways to help decarbonise the carrier’s flights while also preparing for the introduction of SAF. Their sustainability partnership was announced in Taipei during an event to mark the airline’s order for 33 new Airbus jets.

Like a growing number of carriers, Wizz Air has committed that SAF will comprise 10% of its total jet fuel use by 2030. Its test flights with Airbus, to occur before the end of this year, are designed to help operationally prepare the airline for the EU’s escalating blending mandates, which from next year will require at least 2% of total fuel uplift to be SAF.

Airbus will provide technical guidance and expertise to help maximise the efficient integration of SAF across Wizz Air’s operation while product for the trials will be supplied by Spanish refiner Cepsa and distributed to the departure airports by World Fuel Services, a division of Florida-based energy group World Kinect.

The airline will buy up to 34 metric tons of pure SAF, of which 16 metric tons will be uplifted through blends of up to 5% for the flights from Barcelona-El Prat Airport and 18 metric tons of neat SAF in a 10% blend will be provided at Brussels Charleroi.

The Wizz Air project will be conducted using the mass balancing method, through which SAF use is tracked across an airline’s network and its environmental benefits allocated to specific flights, regardless of where the fuel is physically used, enabling carriers to support SAF production and use globally.

“With this project,” said the airline, “Wizz Air is taking steps to incorporate SAF into its operations, on top of leveraging the fuel efficiency of the Airbus A321neo aircraft, testing the alignment with regulatory frameworks ahead of schedule and working to understand passengers’ awareness of SAF and surrounding policies.”

Yvonne Moynihan, the airline’s Corporate and ESG Officer, said the project demonstrated cross-industry collaboration to reduce aviation’s emissions intensity, while building broader awareness of measures to make air transport more sustainable.

“We are not only testing SAF operations but also gathering insights from our passengers on their awareness of levers to decarbonise aviation,” she said.

Results of the survey will be released publicly, not only to highlight passenger expectations but also to guide the aviation industry in enhancing sustainability efforts.

“Fuel-efficient aircraft and SAF will provide the majority of the emissions reductions our industry needs to make by 2050,” added Julie Kitcher, Airbus’ Chief Sustainability Officer, “which is why working together with partners like Wizz Air to efficiently integrate SAF across airline operations is such an important step.”

Marta Cencillo, Head of Sustainable Aviation for the SAF producer, Cepsa, welcomed the trial flights with WizzAir as “an immediate solution to help decarbonise flights” and “an important initiative to move towards effective emissions reduction ahead of the ReFuelEU mandate.”

The exercise was also a key step in the broader introduction of SAF, added Duncan Storey, World Fuel’s SVP supply and commercial development, EMEA.

“Aligning with the upcoming ReFuelEU aviation requirements is an important milestone in our efforts to expand the availability of sustainable fuels,” he said. “Since 2015, we been actively working to increase the availability of lower-carbon aviation fuels across the globe. Our SAF supply network in Europe includes multiple key locations such as the UK, Germany and France.”

Madrid-based Cepsa is changing its name to Moeve in a phased rollout beginning in November.

“I’m thrilled to announce that a great brand, Cepsa, which has been with us for over 90 years, is transforming and to tell the world that we’re becoming a different type of organisation, Moeve, in which the majority of profits will come from sustainable activities by the end of this decade,” said the company’s CEO, Maarten Wetselaar. “This well-known and collaborative company has rapidly accelerated its transformation over the past two years, reaching multiple milestones outlined in its 2030 Positive Motion strategy. Building on these achievements and those still to come, we are introducing a new brand that reflects our steadfast commitment to leading Europe’s energy transition, particularly in green hydrogen, second-generation biofuels and ultra-fast electric mobility.”

Across the world in Taipei, Taiwan, Airbus inked another sustainability partnership, this time a two-year collaboration with customer airline EVA Air, during an event to celebrate orders by the carrier for 18 long-haul Airbus A350-1000 twinjets and 15 narrowbody A321neo aircraft, which the companies estimate will reduce fuel burn and CO2 emissions by up to 25% compared to earlier model jets.

“The agreement lays the foundation for the two companies to explore over the next 24 months avenues for decarbonisation within EVA Air’s operations, prepare the ecosystem for sustainable aviation fuel adoption and ensure infrastructure readiness,” said the airline.

“These efforts will ensure that we can steadily move towards a net zero future,” added the carrier’s President, Clay Sun.

Airbus Commercial Aircraft CEO Christian Scherer said the planemaker was deepening its collaboration with EVA Air in line with a broader ambition to help decarbonise the aviation sector.

The two companies will study measures needed to prepare for the use of SAF to power commercial flights, as well as establishing procurement processes and managing certification of SAF. Airbus will also evaluate the potential contributions of multiple measures based on EVA’s current and future routes, and its operational practices.

Top image (Airbus): Airbus will partner with Wizz Air for SAF-powered trials of the airline’s A321neo jets

Bottom photo: EVA Air and Airbus mark decarbonisation agreement

Tony Harrington

Correspondent

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Global airline body IATA has called for “urgent action” on better understanding of the climate effects of non-CO2 emissions from aircraft at high altitudes, in particular cirrus cloud formation from persistent contrails. Scientists have long warned that contrails have a significant net warming impact on the climate but a new report by IATA says significant knowledge gaps remain in the complexity of contrail science and calls for more data and research. However, it is pushing against a move by the EU to introduce from January 2025 mandatory monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of non-CO2 emissions from all flights departing, arriving as well as within the European Economic Area (EEA). An alliance of European low-cost airlines – Ryanair, easyjet and Wizz Air – together with NGOs led by Transport & Environment have now written to urge the European Commission to resist IATA’s lobbying to restrict the scope to intra-EEA flights.

All sides accept that aviation’s climate impact extends beyond CO2 emissions, with non-CO2 effects such as contrails and nitrogen oxides also contributing to global warming. However, with uncertainties over the scale of the problem and how to tackle it, action by industry and policymakers has so far been lacking, although that is beginning to change. A number of airlines are taking part in contrail avoidance trials, while others have installed monitoring equipment on their aircraft. The EU, on the other hand, now wants access to extensive non-CO2 emissions data from flights before implementing a policy decision that could eventually result in airlines paying for their non-CO2 as well as CO2 emissions under the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). The UK government has indicated it intends to carry out a policy consultation on the non-CO2 issue sometime this year.

Following its newly-released report ‘Aviation Contrails Climate Effect: Tackling Uncertainties & Enabling Solutions’, IATA is calling for “a strengthening of collaboration between research and technological innovation, coupled with policy frameworks to address aviation’s non-CO2 emissions through more atmospheric data.” The lack of high-resolution, real-time data on atmospheric conditions – particularly humidity and temperature at cruising altitudes – hinders precise contrail forecasting, argues the report.

“The industry and its stakeholders are working to address the impact of non-CO2 emissions on climate change, particularly contrails,” said IATA’s Director General, Willie Walsh. “To ensure that this effort is effective and without adverse effects, we must better understand how and where contrails form, and shrink the uncertainties related to their climate impact.”

This requires more trials, collection of more data and improvement of climate models, alongside developing mature technologies and operations, he said.

“Formulating and implementing regulations based on insufficient data and limited scientific understanding is foolish and could lead to adverse impacts on the climate,” he warned. “That is why the most important conclusion from this report is to urge all stakeholders to work together to resolve current gaps in the science so that we can take effective actions.”

The study, conducted with a number of industry organisations and research institutions, recommends a course of action over the period to 2050. In the immediate term, until 2030, the priority should be on mitigating CO2 emissions, while increasing airline participating in sensor programmes, continuing scientific research and improving humidity and climate models for the purposes of contrail mitigation, it says. In the mid-term (2030-2040), action should be taken for data transmission, continuous validation of models and encouraging aircraft manufacturers to include provisions for meteorological observations, as well as selected avoidance.

Over the longer term (2040-2050), the report expects aircraft to be continuously supplying data, with models and infrastructure in place to provide reliable results. By then, there should also be a more complete understanding of the non-CO2 effects from alternative fuels, it forecasts.

“These action items collectively aim to mitigate the climate impact of aviation while advancing scientific understanding and technological capabilities,” it says.

However, IATA is dismissive of the EU’s plans to collect non-CO2 data from flights as of next January and for the European Commission to come up with a legislative proposal by the beginning of 2028 to expand the scope of the EU ETS to include non-CO2 aviation effects.

The proposal could serve as “a first-stage experiment that attempts to achieve a baseline estimation of the non-CO2 effects of aviation,” says IATA. “However, it is currently not feasible to validate the output from the experiment to ensure that it accurately represents reality.

“Studies have shown that estimating the formation of individual contrails using past weather and trajectory data could lead to incorrect results 50-80% of the time. An MRV system for non-CO2 emissions today could support further research thanks to additional data but the science is not mature enough to allow confidence in its implementation at a policy level.

“It is conceivable that by attempting to avoid the formation of contrails and reduce reported non-CO2 emissions, operators could inadvertently increase their CO2 emissions. The complex and likely trade-offs amongst different non-CO2 emissions, and between these and CO2 emissions are still poorly understood.

“Considering all the challenges and uncertainties, introducing an MRV system as early as January 2025 would not serve to mitigate aviation’s non-CO2 effects under the EU ETS.”

The decision to include non-CO2 MRV was agreed by the European Parliament and member states last year and incorporated as an amendment to the EU ETS Directive 2003/87/EC. While MRV under the EU ETS in respect of CO2 emissions is restricted to intra-EEA flights, the new non-CO2 rule also applies to all flights that depart or arrive at an EEA airport.

IATA recommends airline participation in the MRV framework should be voluntary, given its “experimental nature”, and  its application scope should be “strictly intra-EU” to mirror that for CO2.

“Any intention to expand beyond the current EU ETS application scope for aviation would imply a legal risk of extraterritorial impact and would work counter to any MRV implementation,” it argues. “Furthermore, the probability of contrail formation is highly dependent on the region: mid-latitudes have a higher probability of contrail formation than the tropics or the equator, so contrails affect different regions differently.”

However, a policy paper by European NGO Transport & Environment (T&E) responds that full geographic scope is essential to ensure the credibility of the scheme. “It allows a better understanding of the impacts of long-haul flights, which research shows to cause more warming and present more promising mitigation opportunity,” it says. “A reduction in the scope would significantly limit the amount of data and the opportunities to mitigate non-CO2 effects beyond intra-EEA flights.”

The paper notes that shipping companies are now required to monitor maritime non-CO2 emissions for voyages to, from and within the EU. “Aviation cannot seek another exemption while other sectors are required to do more.”

It adds: “As non-CO2 emissions account for two thirds of aviation’s climate impact and adversely affect human health, the aviation industry must no longer avoid its responsibility but instead take decisive action to confront its complete environmental impact. The MRV scheme is a necessary first step aimed at better understanding these effects with a view to explore mitigation pathways. Any divergence from the original full scope would only lead to a large part of aviation emissions remaining hidden from regulators and consumers alike.”

Commented T&E Aviation Policy Manager Krisztina Toth: “Non-CO2 emissions were recognised as a climate problem 25 years ago. A monitoring tool offers a much needed first step that will help bring more understanding of the full climate impact of aviation. But some legacy carriers are lobbying to weaken the proposal, using uncertainty as an excuse.”

Full scope alliances

T&E has formed an coalition on the issue with low-cost carrier easyJet, as well as industry actors and other NGOs to urge the Commission to maintain the full scope of the non-CO2 MRV.

In a letter to the director-generals responsible for climate and transport, as well as the climate minister for Belgium, which currently holds the EU presidency, the group said: “It is critical that the full geographic scope is retained, as it is the only scientifically sound basis to understand the impact of aircraft types and geographies, and allow a better understanding of the impacts of long-haul flights, which research shows to cause more warming and present larger mitigation opportunities. It is vital that activity in areas such as the North Atlantic region, with a high concentration of contrail formation, are monitored and understood.

“Given the volume of their contribution to this issue, any deviation to exclude long-haul routes from the scope would be a significant missed opportunity which would empty the MRV of most of its meaning from a climate impact mitigation perspective, and undermine the scientific basis for future action. It would also go against the original agreement between the co-legislators.”

In a separate letter to the two Commission director-generals, easyJet has teamed with rival low-cost carriers Ryanair and Wizz Air to present a similar joint position on maintaining the full scope of non-CO2 MRV. “We call on the Commission to reject IATA’s attempts to restrict monitoring of non-CO2 effects to intra-European flights,” they said in a statement.

“We do not understand the intent of this effort to undermine the MRV scheme and why significant parts of the industry do not want to further the understanding of the science of non-CO2 effects,” says the letter.

“The purpose of the scheme is to support the development of a robust scientific evidence base. There is currently simply too much uncertainty around non-CO2 effects to drive policy development or to even reach a coherent understanding of the impact of non-CO2 on warming. This is precisely why we need such a system and why it must not be limited to intra-EU flights.

“Without robust science, it will not be possible to develop a policy measure to address non-CO2 effects, so if the EU chooses to restrict the MRV it is by default choosing to remove the option of a future policy instrument.”

IATA’s concern over the extraterritorial application of the non-CO2 MRV to airlines from third countries arriving at and departing from EEA airports has justification. The EU ETS in its original scope was similar but it faced considerable international opposition from countries such as China, India, Russia and the United States. China threatened to withdraw a sizeable order of Airbus aircraft for one of its carriers. The US passed legislation, which is still in force, that provides powers to prohibit its airlines from complying with EU ETS regulations. In the face of such opposition, and with the expectation that ICAO would come up with a market-based global scheme to address carbon emissions from international flights (ICAO member states later agreed the CORSIA carbon offsetting scheme), the EU backed down and restricted the scope of the EU ETS to intra-EEA flights on a time-limited basis.

The letter from the three LCCs acknowledges “there are reasonable concerns” around the scale of MRV data required from airlines and third country airline involvement. However, they say: “We think these can be resolved through a pragmatic approach to the implementation of the MRV.

“The concern that foreign governments and their carriers might in future object to having to report non-CO2 emissions is also not a reason to restrict the measure to intra-EU flights. These carriers are already subject to reporting requirements under CORSIA and will be subject to reporting requirements under ReFuelEU Aviation. There is no technical reason why extra-EU flights should be exempted from reporting their non-CO2 emissions.

“Options to tackle non-EU country objections, should they arise, could involve limiting or delaying the enforcement for non-EU carriers, or other options involving EU funding to address any imbalance in costs. The scope restriction to intra-EU flights is not a necessary outcome.”

Article updated May 10 to include a link to the full letter from the three LCCs.

Photo: DLR

Christopher Surgenor

Editor

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At a joint presentation in London, European low-cost carrier Wizz Air announced it has set a goal of powering 10% of its flights with sustainable aviation fuel by 2030, while its UK SAF partner Firefly unveiled plans for an initial sewage-to-SAF demo plant on the east coast of England. The fast-growing airline is looking to expand its current fleet of 206 Airbus narrowbody fleet to around 500 by the end of the decade and meeting its aspirational SAF target will require a significant ramp-up of SAF production and deployment, it acknowledged. Adopting a portfolio approach, Wizz Air has entered into a number of agreements, including a multi-year offtake with Firefly, which in turn has signed MoUs with industrial partners including Haltermann Carless, Petrofac, Chevron Lummus Global and Anglian Water. It hopes to construct an operational demo facility by 2027 and reach commercial-scale production by 2029 at an existing facility near the port of Harwich.

Following a collaboration with Airbus on a hydrogen project, Wizz Air has decided progress on this form of powering future aircraft is too slow and no longer fits with its medium to long term fleet strategy, and it is now fully focused on SAF, as well as ambitious fleet renewal and operational efficiency plans. In 2023, the airline achieved a record annual average CO2 intensity of 51.5 grams per passenger/km, a 6.8% year-on-year reduction, and has committed to reduce carbon emissions per passenger/km by 25% by 2030.

SAF will play a crucial role and is the game changer in reducing carbon emissions from aviation but there are big challenges over cost and availability, acknowledged Yvonne Moynihan, Corporate and ESG Officer at Wizz Air. “Therefore, we call on policymakers to address barriers to SAF deployment at scale by incentivising production, providing price support and embracing additional sustainable feedstocks for biofuel production,” she said.

As a low-cost fares airline, Wizz Air operates at secondary airports across Europe, where Moynihan fears SAF supplies are likely to be scarcer than at the main hubs. It is also competing with rival budget airline Ryanair for SAF, which has set an ambitious 12.5% by 2030 target. There is a reluctance by the carrier to pass on the SAF price premium to its customers, who she said were very price sensitive, and hopes policy incentives can relieve the cost burden.

“The more that policy can drive investment, the more likely the cost of SAF production can be lowered and therefore provide better availability and at lower prices so that we don’t need to pass them on,” she said, adding the airline favoured a Europe-wide SAF book-and-claim system in order to avoid the probability of large quantities of SAF being trucked around Europe to comply with the mandate rule that all EU airports will need to be supplied with the fuel regardless of where it is produced.

The airline has signed offtakes with producers for supplies in Europe but recognises it may have to import SAF from outside. In May 2023, along with low-cost carriers Frontier Airlines and Volaris, it joined a $50 million investment round in US SAF production startup CleanJoule, which included binding agreements by the three carriers to purchase up to 90 million gallons of SAF.

A £5 million equity investment in Firefly in April 2023 was Wizz Air’s first as a venture capitalist. “We hope this will encourage others in the industry to do the same thing,” said Moynihan. The funding will help Firefly with development, testing and qualification of its novel fuel produced through a new and as yet unapproved technology pathway.  

Wizz Air will be Firefly’s launch customer, with production of first volumes slated for 2028/2029 and delivered for use by the airline at Luton Airport. The offtake agreement is across 15 years for 525,000 tonnes of SAF in total and carries a reported value of almost $1 billion, with a potential to save 1.5 million tonnes of CO2-eq over the period, say the partners.

Moynihan said the airline was attracted to the Firefly project by the low feedstock costs and an expected competitive SAF end-price. Firefly estimates human sewage sludge – or biosolids, the useful dry solid fraction of the sludge – has the global potential to produce around 40 billion litres of SAF per year. In the UK alone, the prospective production could amount to 224,000 tonnes of SAF. The company is claiming its fuel is projected to deliver a 90% reduction in GHG emissions compared to fossil jet fuel on a life-cycle basis.

The Firefly production process involves hydrothermal liquefaction, also called hydrous pyrolysis, that converts the biosolid feedstock to biocrude and then hydrotreated to produce sustainable transport fuel. Another by-product of the process is biochar, which can be used for soil enhancement and carbon sequestration. As the new pathway is still in the ASTM certification process, Firefly is unable to say what the maximum blend limit will be for the fuel but expects it to be at the higher end of the scale.

The company has entered into a number of MoUs with industrial partners on its first Firefly Harwich plant, although it is still pulling together the necessary investment. The initial pilot facility, on which Firefly expects to break ground “in the coming months”, will be built at a specialist refinery site that is being repurposed by German hydrocarbon-based production company Haltermann Carless, which also has SAF ambitions in its home country. In 2022, it commissioned a hydrogenation plant at its Speyer site, close to Frankfurt Airport. It is expecting to produce around 60,000 tonnes of SAF and renewable chemicals annually from 2026, based on the alcohol-to-jet process and using EU RED II certified raw materials such agricultural and forestry residues.

Halterman Carless has also just signed a MoU with electricity generation and renewable energy company RWE to develop a green hydrogen plant on the Harwich site that would enable CO2 emissions to be reduced from production. The partners have completed feasibility studies for a green electrolyser at the site and they report work is underway to assess both grid and water connections to enable the project to go ahead.

US company Chevron Lummus Global, a joint venture between energy giant Chevron and Lummus Technology to supply technology for the production of transportation fuels, will provide bespoke refinery infrastructure to the Firefly Harwich project. CLG has developed its ISOTERRA hydroprocessing technology to convert feedstocks into SAF or renewable diesel. The design and build of the Firefly pilot plant will be handled by energy industry services provider Petrofac, which has already completed the pre-FEED study for the facility.

The feedstock will be provided by Anglian Water, which provides water supply, sewerage and sewage treatment to the East of England.

“The signing of these agreements marks a significant leap forward in realising our ambitions to develop a sustainable SAF industry here in the UK,” said James Hygate, CEO of Firefly, which plans to build three plants in the country. “Opening up this new sewage pathway will bring new jobs and growth to the UK, helping us to secure a greener and more prosperous future.”

Image: Wizz Air

Christopher Surgenor

Editor

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A Ryanair deal with global energy group Repsol and the launch by Italian carrier ITA Airways of its ‘Fly with SAF’ programme, together with the signing of an agreement with logistics provider DB Schenker, and a Neste agreement with World Fuel Services are among a number of new European sustainable aviation fuel initiatives. Ryanair and Repsol have signed a MoU to advance the supply of SAF at airports used by Ryanair across Spain and Portugal. The ITA programme offers freight forwarders and shippers the possibility of supporting the purchase of SAF and thus reducing their CO2 emissions while shipping their goods. In Hungary, energy and petrochemicals company MOL, in cooperation with Neste, Budapest Airport, Wizz Air and airport fuel supplier RÜK have started commercially testing a SAF supply chain to prepare the fuel supply system ahead of the EU SAF mandate introduction in 2025. With greater volumes of SAF available from Neste, World Fuel Services is increasing the number of European airports it can supply with SAF from 13 to over 40.

Ryanair’s agreement with Repsol gives Europe’s largest low-cost carrier access to up to 155,000 tonnes (52 million gallons) of SAF between 2025 and 2030 – equivalent to over 28,000 flights from Dublin to Madrid – and saving around 490,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

“SAF plays a key role in Ryanair’s Pathway to Net Zero strategy and our goal of using 12.5% SAF by 2030,” said Ryanair DAC CEO Eddie Wilson. “Achieving this requires multiple different feedstocks and production methods, and we’re encouraged that Repsol are looking at multiple solutions. This agreement helps Ryanair secure access to around 15% of this ambitious goal.”

ITA Airways’ Fly with SAF has been designed for cargo companies and companies whose staff fly for work and contributions will be entirely used by the airline to cover the extra cost of SAF, with customers choosing their level of commitment. DB Schenker is the first partner to enter the programme.

The Italian flag carrier is taking part in the 2023 edition of the SkyTeam airline alliance’s The Sustainable Flight Challenge, following its success last year when it won two awards. ITA will participate with four flights involving a round-trip Airbus A330 flight on May 20 from Rome Fiumicino to Miami and its return journey the same day, followed by return flights between Rome and Barcelona on May 28 using an Airbus A320neo. Activities will include the use of SAF, more sustainable catering, waste recycling and use of compostable materials, and use of accredited carbon offsets meeting internationally-recognised standards.

The SAF testing at Budapest Airport started on May 10 with Wizz Air flights using a blend of Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel supplied by MOL. Wizz Air’s three newest Airbus A321neo aircraft were fuelled with a total blend of 23.5 tonnes containing 37% SAF and 63% Jet A1 fuel. The aircraft carried passengers from Budapest to Paris and several other European destinations.

Commented Yvonne Moynihan, Corporate and ESG Officer at Wizz Air: “Our SAF test, which is ahead of the legislative mandates coming in 2025, demonstrates that industry collaboration is one of the most impactful ways to address the current climate challenge. The initiative at Budapest Airport is a testament to our broader strategy, with alternative fuels playing a significant role.”

MOL itself is aiming to enter the SAF production market. “So far, we have mainly taken steps in road transport fuels. At our Danube refinery, for example, we have been co-processing vegetable oils, used cooking oils and animal fats with fossil components since 2021 to produce more sustainable diesel,” said Csaba Zsótér, SVP of MOL Group’s Downstream Fuels. “We are now moving into a new area, working with our partners to gain experience in aviation fuels to make aviation more sustainable. I am confident that the first SAF shipment, which is now being launched as a commercial test, will be followed by many more.”

The expansion of production by Neste is enabling fuel supplier World Fuel Services to increase deliveries of SAF to its commercial, business and general aviation customers at over 40 European airports, paving the way for future accessibility of SAF to more than 100 airport locations presently in World Fuel’s European network.

“We are confident this agreement and deeper collaboration with Neste will serve to accelerate our ability to support customers in their decarbonisation ambitions across the globe,” said Duncan Storey, VP Supply Aviation Europe, World Fuel Services.

Responded Alexander Kueper, VP EMEA Renewable Aviation at Neste: “We are excited to expand our collaboration with World Fuel as we increase our annual SAF production capability to 1.5 million tons per annum by the beginning of 2024.”

Photo: ITA Airways Airbus A350 in ‘Born to be sustainable’ livery

Christopher Surgenor

Editor

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As the UK pursues its ‘Jet Zero’ target of net zero emissions from its aviation sector by 2050, a raft of new initiatives by government and industry have taken place over the past week. To coincide with the Sustainable Skies event held at Farnborough on April 17, the eighth meeting of the Jet Zero Council, which is made up of government, industry and academic representatives, revealed an action plan for the next two years covering zero emission aircraft development and sustainable aviation fuel production. The event also saw a fly-past by an RAF Airbus A330 partly powered by SAF that had undertaken a training air-to-air refuelling exercise over the North Sea. The government also published an independent report on developing a UK SAF industry, and UK industry group Sustainable Aviation unveiled an updated version of its Net Zero Carbon Road-Map. Meanwhile, LanzaTech has revealed plans by its UK subsidiary for Wales’ first SAF production plant and low-cost airline Wizz Air has announced an investment in UK sewage-to-SAF company Firefly.

The Jet Zero Council, which is jointly chaired by the government’s Transport Secretary and Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary, adopted its two-year plan with actions to speed up the design, manufacture and rollout of zero emission aircraft and the required infrastructure at UK airports. It also sets out how the Council will help to accelerate SAF production through investment in first-of-a-kind SAF plants, supporting scientific research on a larger scale and help to drive down production costs. The Council meeting also agreed to set up a group to advance knowledge and mitigation options on the non-CO2 impacts of aviation.

“This government is a determined partner to the aviation industry – helping accelerate new technology and fuels, modernise their operations and work internationally to remove barriers to progress,” commented Transport Secretary Mark Harper. “Together, we can set aviation up for success, continue harnessing its huge social and economic benefits, and ensure it remains a core part of the UK’s sustainable economic future.”

The centrepiece of the drive to have 10% of the annual aviation jet fuel mix, roughly 1.2 million tonnes, made up of SAF by 2030 is a SAF blending mandate, on which a second government consultation recently started under a tight policy process to have the full details confirmed later this year or early 2024 and legislated by the final quarter of 2024, ready to start in 2025. By then, it is hoped that at least five commercial-scale SAF plants will be under construction. As well as the mandate, through its Advanced Fuels Fund, the government has put up grants totalling £165 million ($205m) to help first-of-a-kind projects get off the ground.

However, there is a groundswell of opinion that this will not be enough to attract the large outside investment required, and other policy instruments, such as a price stability mechanism, will be required. Last October, the Department for Transport (DfT) commissioned an independent report to be undertaken by Philip New, former CEO of the Energy Systems Catapult and BP Alternative Energy, “to help understand the conditions needed to create a viable long-term SAF industry in the UK.”

The report’s framing section asks the basic questions of whether producing SAF is a rational use of renewable energy resources, whether emerging alternative aircraft technologies could render SAF redundant or if the UK needs a material domestic SAF manufacturing base. If the answer is affirmative to these questions, the second section proposes a set of possible interventions that “would support the creation of a competitive, sustainable and enduring UK SAF industry.”

New’s findings show SAF is indeed key to aviation decarbonisation and the UK has the potential to play a leading role, particularly in the development and deployment of SAF made from waste streams, a technology close to readiness. Whilst the proposed mandate “is a very promising market shaping mechanism”, he found a consensus that it needed to be supported by other interventions to attract investment in UK supply. Key interventions with the greatest leverage, he says, would support the UK’s nascent advantage in feedstock supply and underpin revenue confidence.

“There could be a powerful synergy between standards, the mandate and a bilateral public law contract type of mechanism, for example, akin to the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme used in the renewable power sector,” he says. “There is potential for this to be underwritten by industry, not government.”

His report concludes: “With the imaginative application of market-shaping levers, the UK’s concentration of developers with potential projects, remarkable cross-sectoral commitment, legacy strengths in aviation technology and fuels infrastructure, and potential strengths in feedstock access, financing could be leveraged to build a SAF industry with only a limited call on public finances. Such an industry would create thousands of green jobs and support fuel supply security.”

In its response to the report, the DfT says: “The government will continue to consider whether additional support is required alongside delivery of our existing commitments on the Advanced Fuels Fund and SAF mandate. There are a number of options which could be considered to help address the revenue certainty barrier for SAF plants in the UK. Any further support will be tested for deliverability, investability, affordability and simplicity.

“One option to provide revenue certainty could be the private law contract mechanism recommended in the report, though this type of scheme has never been implemented in parallel to a mandate before in the UK, or globally. The government must therefore consider how any potential support mechanism would interact with the SAF mandate and other incentive mechanisms such as the UK ETS, ensuring that it operates successfully in tandem and avoids unintended consequences. Furthermore, designing and implementing a mechanism such as a private law contract is likely to be complex and take time to implement, particularly a bespoke CfD scheme.

“We will work together with industry through the Jet Zero Council to consider the best way to support the aviation industry to decarbonise, including considering options for additional revenue certainty for a UK SAF industry to be provided via an industry-funded intervention. If required, following further engagement, we will launch a formal government consultation this summer.”

To coincide with the Council meeting and the Sustainable Skies World Summit 2023 event, which attracted 7 the Royal Air Force flew its Airbus A330 Voyager air-to-air refuelling tanker, which also operates as a VIP passenger and freight aircraft, in a round-trip from its Brize Norton base. Carrying a 43% blend of SAF in both engines, the aircraft performed an air-to-air refuel over the North Sea before a fly-over of the Farnborough Airport runway. The 50 tonnes of SAF used for the flight was sourced and funded by International Airlines Group and supplied by Air bp.

New industry net zero roadmap

The meeting also saw the launch of the UK cross-industry group Sustainable Aviation’s Net Zero Carbon Road-Map, which updates previous versions published in 2020 and 2021.

“This is a critical decade where aviation must prove it will decarbonise. Our updated roadmap shows that we have a clear, credible path to take carbon out of flying,” commented Matt Gorman, Chair, Sustainable Aviation. “Through a combination of sustainable aviation fuel, more efficient aircraft and airspace, zero emission planes and carbon removals, we can protect the huge benefits of aviation for future generations without the carbon cost.”

However, he said, decarbonisation would happen faster and create more jobs and investment with the right government policy support.

“The US and Europe are surging forwards in the race to create new industries in sustainable aviation fuels and technology. The UK has all the natural advantages to be able to join them, but we need to move quickly. An agreed mandate for SAF as soon as possible and a price support mechanism – building on Philip New’s independent report – are key policy areas where we can act now to gain a share of the huge prize of making Britain the natural home of net zero aviation.”

The industry group calls on the government to deliver commercial UK SAF production at scale this decade and the commitment on the five plants being under construction by 2025 by providing an industry-funded price stability mechanism alongside the mandate, and prioritising access to UK sustainable feedstocks.

It also asks for the acceleration of the UK airspace modernisation programme, with completion by the end of the decade, and investment by government in zero carbon emission flight technology through increased matched funding to the Aerospace Technology Institute programme. It also calls for residual aviation carbon emissions to be addressed by accelerating the rollout of carbon removals, including them in the UK ETS “and ensuring aviation’s fair share”.

The roadmap shows the industry plans to reduce its carbon emissions by nearly 70 million tonnes to net zero by 2050 (see below), compared with a scenario of growth at today’s efficiency, broken down as follows:

• 9.6 MtCO2 saving due to decarbonisation cost impact on demand;
• 2.5 MtCO2 saving from better air traffic management and operating procedures;
• 9.5 MtCO2 saving from the introduction of known and new, more efficient aircraft;
• 10.6 MtCO2 saving from the introduction of future, more efficient types including electric and hydrogen aircraft;
• 26.4 MtCO2 saving from sustainable aviation fuels; and
• 8.8 MtCO2 saving from permanent carbon removals.

“With these actions, the UK will be able to accommodate significant growth in passengers through to 2050 whilst reducing emission levels from just under 40 million tonnes of CO2 per year down to zero,” says the roadmap report, which adds that a full and detailed technical report on the Road-Map will be published later this year and further work will be carried out during the year on non-CO2 impacts.

Accompanying the Road-Map is a Sustainable Aviation-commissioned report by consultants ICF called ‘Roadmap for the development of the UK SAF industry’. It says 1.2 million tonnes (MT) of SAF will be required in 2030 to meet the government ambition, increasing to 7.0 MT by 2050 to achieve net zero in a central case with 75% of residual carbon addressed through SAF. Announced SAF capacity in the UK is around 0.6 MT, so at least 0.6 MT remains to be met by unannounced capacity or imports, although relying on imports will be challenging, it says, with a global shortfall in announced capacity compared to targets of almost 4 Mt of SAF by 2030, equal to over three times the UK’s projected 2030 demand.

The analysis shows the UK has sufficient feedstock – biological and other – to fully decarbonise the aviation sector. In the central estimate, the roadmap conservatively estimates feedstock availability for 3.5 MT of SAF from waste and advanced feedstocks, and 1.9 MT from renewable electricity.

However, utilising UK feedstock requires new conversion technologies to be commercialised. The HEFA pathway dominates current SAF production but the waste fats and oils this approach requires are limited in their availability, and to achieve the necessary growth, technologies such as Fischer-Tropsch, alcohol-to-jet and others must be commercialised, says the roadmap report.

“These technologies hold great promise but will not be feasible without additional support,” it comments. “The high capital costs, uncertain revenue and complex technologies prevent investments until the level, type and longevity of policy support is known and sufficient. The Advanced Fuel Fund (AFF) has set the groundwork but additional support is urgently needed. Time is running short to get these complex facilities built and commissioned by 2030.”

New UK SAF production plans

One beneficiary of the AFF is LanzaTech UK’s Dragon project, which was awarded £25 million ($31m) last December in the first round of the fund to aid development of a commercial-scale plant in Port Talbot, Wales, that will convert steel mill off-gases into ethanol and then use LanzaJet’s alcohol-to-jet (AtJ) technology to produce SAF.

LanzaTech UK, a subsidiary of LanzaTech Global Inc, has now announced further plans for the project, which include seeking planning permission for the AtJ plant in the South Wales industrial heartland that would produce around 100 million litres of SAF per year, enough to supply around 1% of the UK’s jet fuel needs. The plans have been developed in consultation with Neath Port Talbot Council, Natural Resources Wales, Associated British Ports and the Welsh government. Subject to planning permission, which will be applied for later this year, construction of the plant is expected to begin in 2025, with production starting in 2026/7.

To produce ethanol for the plant, a second facility is planned that uses a naturally occurring organism that transforms greenhouse gases to ethanol as part of its natural lifecycle. The details of this gas fermentation facility would be progressed through a separate planning application when the location has been identified and confirmed, said the company.

“LanzaTech is thrilled to announce its plans to transform derelict land in Port Talbot into the site for Wales’ first sustainable aviation fuel production,” commented LanzaTech UK’s Managing Director, Jim Woodger. “The rich industrial heritage of the region will be maintained through innovative technologies like these that transform industrial waste gases into valuable products and create long-term, skilled jobs.”

LanzaTech said it would be sharing further details of its plans for the AtJ facility in the coming months and is seeking feedback from the local community on Project Dragon through a newly-launched website.

Meanwhile, fast-growing European low-cost carrier Wizz Air has announced a £5 million ($6.2m) investment in UK biofuel company Firefly, which is developing a process that converts sewage sludge into SAF. The investment, a first of its kind for Wizz Air, will support development and certification of the SAF and the airline expects to be able to use the fuel in its UK operations from 2028 under an offtake agreement to supply up to 525,000 tonnes over 15 years that would potentially save 1.5 million tonnes of CO2e. Wizz Air says the saving is equal to the emissions of over 12,000 flights between London and its home base, Budapest.

Firefly says more than 57 million tonnes of low-value sewage sludge are produced in the UK each year, with the potential to produce 250,000 tonnes of SAF. The SAF produced by Firefly will be independently certified by standards body RSB and is projected to deliver a 90% reduction in GHG emissions compared with fossil jet fuel on a lifecycle basis.

“The investment will accelerate the commercialisation of our game-changing process,” commented James Hygate, CEO of Firefly Green Fuels. “The feedstock, sewage sludge, is available in vast quantities globally and we can put it to a truly beneficial use, reducing the use of fossil fuels in the hardest to decarbonise areas.”

Firefly’s technology originated in the laboratories of Green Fuels, founded in 2003 and awarded a Royal Warrant in 2013. The current SAF project encompasses engineering design and construction of a demonstrator plant capable of generating the quantities of fuel to allow ASTM qualification. This in turn, said the company, would lead to a first-of-its-kind commercial refinery and rollout to several UK locations where airports, pipeline terminals and wastewater treatment works are in close proximity.

Photo: Refuelling of the RAF’s Voyager Airbus A330 with a SAF blend supplied by IAG and Air bp

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European low-cost carrier Wizz Air has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Spanish energy company Cepsa for the supply of sustainable aviation fuel from 2025, the Budapest-based airline’s third renewable fuel deal in six months. While the volume to be acquired through the latest agreement was not disclosed, the airline said the agreement would enable it to use blended SAF on flights from 14 destinations in Spain. In February, Wizz Air signed with renewable fuel company Neste for the supply of 108,000 tons of blended SAF for three years, again from 2025, for use on its European and UK flights. And late last year, it signed another MoU to acquire up to 185,000 tons of blended SAF from Vienna-based renewable fuel supplier OMV between 2023 and 2030. The deals support a commitment by Wizz Air to cut CO2 emissions by 25% per passenger kilometre by 2030 and achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The partnership with Cepsa follows a week-long trial last November in which Wizz Air joined five other airlines in using SAF to part-fuel a total of 220 flights from Seville Airport in southern Spain. The fuel was produced locally by Cepsa at its La Rábida Energy Park in Huelva, as part of its ‘Positive Motion’ strategic plan, in which it aims to become the largest producer of biofuels in Spain and Portugal by 2030. The entire process, from production to distribution of the SAF, was certified as traceable by the International Sustainability Carbon Certification system (ICCS).

Cepsa is targeting annual production capacity of 2.5 million tonnes, including 800,000 tonnes of SAF, and a commitment to producing new fuels from circular raw materials that do not compete with food, with feedstocks including recycled cooking oils and biodegradable waste from a range of industries.

“We are committed to creating solutions that make air transport more sustainable, and partnerships like the one with Wizz Air to develop SAF are absolutely fundamental in our joint decarbonisation journey with clients,” said Cepsa’s Director of Aviation, Tobi Pardo.   

The SAF provided in Seville was produced from feedstock including olive pits and other plant-based waste from Spain’s olive industry. Blended product containing 4.5% SAF – more than double the EU’s 2025 target of 2% – was then provided to Wizz Air, Air Europa, Air Nostrum, Iberia Express, Ryanair and Vueling by fuel storage and distribution group Exolum, with total volumes claimed by Cepsa to be enough for 400,000 kilometres of flight by an average aircraft, 400-500 hours of flight time, or 10 circuits of the Earth, sufficient to abate more than 200 tons of CO2 emissions.

As well as in Seville, future supplies of SAF from Cepsa are intended to support Wizz Air’s flights from the Spanish destinations Alicante, Barcelona El Prat, Bilbao, Castellon, Ibiza, Madrid, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca, Santander, Valencia, Zaragoza, and Fuerteventura and Teneriffe in the Canary Islands.   

“We are excited to partner with Cepsa, a renowned energy company, to establish a SAF supply chain for Wizz Air in Spain,” said Ian Malin, the airline’s EVP and Group CFO.

Through this and other SAF offtake deals, plus additional measures including data-driven efficiencies and fleet renewal, Wizz Air is targeting a 25% reduction in carbon emissions per passenger kilometre by 2030, and last year achieved its lowest annual carbon intensity of 55.2 grams per passenger kilometre, 15.4% less than in 2021. The airline is also working with SAF producers to support research into future fuel development and using its SAF commitments not just to cut emissions but to help drive up demand for low-emission product, it said.

Central to its decarbonisation programme is a major fleet investment through which Wizz Air, an all-Airbus operator, is introducing new A321neo jets, 34 of which were introduced last year. The airline has close to 180 narrowbody A320 and A321 jets, and orders for more than 300, with ‘neo’ technology planes expected to exceed half of the airline’s fleet during 2023.

In addition to its SAF commitments, Wizz Air has signed an MoU with Airbus to also explore the potential for hydrogen-powered aircraft, a high priority for the airframer, which has announced plans to introduce a new family of such aircraft into commercial service by 2035.  

Late last year, Wizz Air also joined AZEA, the EU’s Alliance for Zero Emission Aviation, an organisation created to progress the commercialisation of technologies including hydrogen and electric propulsion systems. The airline will share information on the challenges and solutions associated with introducing zero-emission aircraft into the low-cost flight market, and explore how hydrogen propulsion might be applied to future Wizz Air operations. 

Photo: Cepsa

Finnish renewable fuels producer Neste is to supply sustainable aviation fuel to Wizz Air, which provides the low-cost carrier the opportunity to purchase 36,000 tonnes of SAF per year over a period of three years to use across its route network in Europe and the UK. The SAF volumes to be purchased are a key part of the airline’s environmental strategy to reduce carbon emissions intensity per passenger km by 25% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. Boeing has also reached an agreement with Neste to purchase 5.6 million gallons (21.2m litres) of blended SAF supplied by Neste’s partners EPIC Fuels, Signature Aviation and Avfuel to power its US commercial operations through 2023. Still in the United States, a collaboration involving Neste, Bell, Safran Helicopter Engines, GKN Aerospace and Virent has resulted in the first-ever single-engine helicopter to fly using 100% SAF.

In 2022, Airbus aircraft operator Wizz Air achieved its lowest-ever annual carbon intensity, which amounted to 55.2 grams per passenger/km, and picked up a number of industry sustainability awards.

“We continue to invest in innovative technology and believe that SAF is a key part of the solution for decarbonising the aviation industry,” said Ian Malin, EVP and Group CFO at Wizz Air. “The partnership with Neste reaffirms our progress in reducing our carbon emissions intensity, which is already one of the lowest in the world.”

Responded Jonathan Wood, VP Europe, Renewable Aviation at Neste: “We look forward to working with Wizz Air on the reduction of their carbon emissions, as we increase our annual SAF production to 1.5 million tonnes by the end of 2023.”

The purchase by Boeing more than doubles its SAF procurement from last year. The SAF will be blended with conventional jet fuel at a 30/70 ratio, with the volume of SAF supplied by Neste totalling around 1.7 million gallons. EPIC, Signature and Avfuel will supply the blended SAF for Boeing’s ecoDemonstrator programme and the company’s fuel storage in Washington state and South Carolina. Additionally, the three companies will supply blended SAF for generating emissions reduction benefits for Boeing to allocate for company operations including Dreamlifter and executive flights, and commercial airplane deliveries.

“As one of the top aircraft manufacturers in the world, Boeing is sending a clear message to the entire aviation industry through this purchase that SAF is a key solution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from flying,” said Michael Sargeant, VP Americas, Renewable Aviation at Neste.

The 100% SAF-powered flight of the Bell 505 in Texas had been preceded by rigorous testing by Safran Helicopter Engines, the manufacturer of the helicopter’s Arrius 2R engine, and GKN Aerospace, the fuel system component supplier. Neste collaborated with Virent, the supplier of the bio-based aromatic additive, to blend, test and deliver the SAF as a 100% drop-in fuel.

“Neste is working closely with forerunners in the aviation industry on verifying that aircraft can run safely on 100% SAF,” said Wood. “This successful collaboration demonstrates that we are one step closer to enabling the entire aviation industry to take full advantage of 100% SAF as the key means to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions of air travel.”

Michael Thacker, EVP Commercial Business for Bell, said the flight was “a monumental achievement” for the sustainability and decarbonisation of the rotorcraft aircraft. “Showcasing a single-engine aircraft’s flight capabilities with 100% SAF signals Bell’s commitment to alternative fuel usage and builds on its sustainability practices in its flight operations,” he added.

Photo (Bell): The first-ever 100% SAF single-engine helicopter flight

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Airbus has announced a range of new international agreements to help progress the preparedness of airports to deliver hydrogen fuel. The company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Linde, a global industrial gases and engineering group, to jointly investigate hydrogen production, airport storage and integration of refuelling into existing ground handling operations. Both companies will define and undertake pilot projects at multiple airports worldwide from early next year. Airbus has also announced agreements with European LCC Wizz Air to explore the potential for hydrogen-powered aircraft operations and with Suzhou Industrial Park in eastern China to establish the Airbus China Research Centre, which will study advanced technologies including hydrogen energy infrastructure. And it has signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with airports trade body ACI Europe to help ensure sufficient infrastructure is in place to support zero emission aircraft technologies, including hydrogen fuel. In addition to their hydrogen partnership, Airbus and Linde will also investigate the potential of power-to-liquid (PtL) fuels, reports Tony Harrington. Meanwhile, Deutsche Aircraft has signed a MoU with Sasol ecoFT on PtL technology collaboration.

Hydrogen propulsion is rapidly evolving as an option for short to medium haul air transport, with Airbus planning to introduce a family of hydrogen-powered aircraft from the mid-2030s. In 2020, the company announced its ZEROe concept for hydrogen-powered aircraft, and launched ‘Hydrogen Hub at Airports’, a programme designed to drive research into the infrastructure needed to transition to low carbon airport operations. Agreements have since been signed with partners and airports in France, Italy, South Korea, Japan and Singapore. 

The global partnership between Airbus and Linde expands a cooperation agreement the companies signed in Singapore in February. “We are advancing well with hydrogen as an important technology pathway to achieve our ambition of bringing a zero-emission aircraft to market by 2035,” said Sabine Klauke, Airbus CTO. “That’s why we are working closely with partners like Linde, who have decades of experience and expertise worldwide in the storage and distribution of hydrogen.” 

Linde’s VP Clean Energy, Philippe Peccard, welcomed the global expansion of his company’s collaboration with Airbus. “By harnessing both companies’ competencies, we are well positioned to collaborate with airports and government authorities in the development of viable concepts for sustainable airport hubs based on hydrogen,” he said.  

Airbus also continues to enter hydrogen research partnerships with airlines, most recently joining the Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air, a major Airbus customer, to evaluate logistics and opportunities for the new fuel. Under the terms of an MoU, the two will explore the potential of hydrogen-powered operations for ultra-low-cost airlines, specifically focusing on the impact hydrogen aircraft will have on Wizz Air’s fleet, operations and infrastructure. The companies will examine specific aircraft characteristics, including flight range and refuelling time, and how these factors might impact the airline’s network, flight scheduling, ground bases and operations at airports.

“We believe that growth and sustainability are not mutually exclusive, with leading-edge new technology paving the way to more sustainable air travel,” said Johan Eidhagen, Wizz Air’s Chief People and ESG Officer. “This momentous agreement with Airbus will advance sustainable aviation across the globe through development of ultra-efficient operations and business models of the future.”  

Glenn Llewellyn, Airbus VP Zero Emission Aircraft, said such partnerships with airlines were vital for the company in its development of zero emission aircraft. “Understanding airline fleet and network performance enables us to better define the architectural characteristics for future ZEROe aircraft as well as the impact on airports, ground support and route network,” he said. “We are very pleased to have Wizz Air on board to collaborate on the ongoing research and development into the requirements for hydrogen aircraft operations within a hydrogen-powered aviation ecosystem.”

Airbus said its collaboration with ACI Europe further aims to develop the hydrogen ecosystem by preparing the associated supporting airport infrastructure and bring these to market. It will promote the set-up of technical standards and guidance facilitating the uptake of SAF, hydrogen and electric-powered aircraft, as well as make proposals for the emergence of a policy and regulatory framework.

The establishment of a new research centre in Suzhou will provide research services in advanced manufacturing, hydrogen energy infrastructure, sustainability, electrification and other new technologies, reports China Daily. Operations are due to start in 2023.

While Airbus and Linde plan to also investigate power-to-liquid fuels, another aviation partnership has announced plans to progress the development of PtL and support its certification as a sustainable aviation fuel. Germany’s Deutsche Aircraft and South African chemicals and energy group Sasol ecoFT have signed an MoU to progress technology to produce green hydrogen-based PtL SAF, as part of the aircraft manufacturer’s D328eco aircraft programme.

Deutsche Aircraft is targeting 2026 for certification of this new regional aircraft, which it wants to be compatible with PtL as well as other certified SAF and regular kerosene. Fischer-Tropsch technology specialist Sasol ecoFT converts gasified biomass feedstocks or captured carbon dioxide into liquid fuels. The company is experienced in coal-to-liquid conversion, which is chemically similar to PtL SAF, and will begin their partnership by testing the compatibility of blended synthetic fuels produced through this process.

“Sasol ecoFT and Deutsche Aircraft stand at the beginning of a decarbonisation journey,” said Regina Pouzolz, Head of Sustainability for Deutsche Aircraft. “We both have products originally designed in the age of fossil fuels. Together we can develop rapid solutions to combat climate change by improving our products while building on our heritage and expertise.”

Sasol ecoFT VP Helga Sachs added: “Joining forces between aircraft manufacturers and fuel producers is vital if we want to ensure that aviation becomes sustainable, while enjoying the highest possible safety standards. We are extremely excited about the partnership with Deutsche Aircraft as we take a holistic approach to climate-neutral aviation by looking at the whole value chain from fuel production up to aircraft system level.” 

Photo: Sabine Klauke, Airbus CTO and Philippe Peccard, VP Clean Energy, Linde, sign cooperation agreement at the ILA Airshow in Berlin