The Jet Zero Council, a collaboration with industry set up by the previous UK government, has been relaunched as the Jet Zero Taskforce, with the aim of streamlining aviation decarbonisation priorities as the sector strives to reach its net zero emissions by 2050 target. The Taskforce will support the production and delivery of sustainable aviation fuels and zero emission flights, as well as look at how to improve aviation systems to make them more efficient. It will also explore the sector’s demand for GHG removals and the non-CO2 impacts of aviation. The UK’s SAF mandate, which takes effect from January 1, has now officially been signed into law, requiring 22% of all jet fuel to come from sustainable sources by 2040. The government has also started a public consultation on the implementation of ICAO’s global carbon offsetting scheme CORSIA, how it will be regulated in the UK and the penalties for non-compliance.

The restructured Jet Zero Taskforce will feature an annual CEO-level meeting chaired by the UK’s Transport Secretary that will set priorities for tackling aviation emissions and review progress. Members will include the Secretary of States for Business and Trade, and Energy Security and Net Zero, plus CEOs of major airlines such as easyJet, British Airways and Virgin, airports like Heathrow and Manchester, as well as senior representatives from fuel producers, trade bodies and universities.

Below the executive Plenary level will be a smaller Expert Group to support the Taskforce’s priorities, which will be jointly chaired by the Aviation Minister, currently Mike Kane, and Holly Boyd-Boland, VP of Corporate Development at Virgin Atlantic. “By pinpointing key barriers to decarbonisation and directing a select number of smaller action groups to tackle these challenges, this level will be crucial to the delivery of the Taskforce’s objectives,” explained the Department for Transport, which acts as the secretariat.

“Taking up the role of industry chair is a huge privilege and I look forward to working alongside government, with its renewed focus and leadership of the Jet Zero Taskforce,” said Boyd-Boland. “Together, we can harness the ambition across industry to achieve net zero 2050.”

Added Tim Alderslade, CEO of trade body Airlines UK: “Collaboration with government and across the whole sector and supply chain is vital to making the rapid progress we need, and we look forward to working with the new Taskforce to help usher in a new era of sustainable air travel, with all the jobs and investment that entails.”

The first plenary meeting of the Taskforce took place on December 4.

A main priority is to support the development, production, commercialisation and use of sustainable aviation fuels in the UK and also globally. The government will invest up to £450,000 ($570,000) to support aviation decarbonisation measures in other countries, such as helping developing states develop policy and access financing for SAF, as well as to offset carbon emissions from international flights. The announcement coincided with the visit to the UK of the ICAO Secretary General, Juan Carlos Salazar, and the signing of a memorandum of understanding covering all areas of UK-ICAO cooperation.

The UK SAF mandate, which applies from 1 January 2025, has now passed into law. Starting at 2% of total UK jet fuel demand, equal to around 230,000 tonnes, the use of SAF is intended to increase on a linear basis to 10% in 2030 and then to 22% in 2040, after when the obligation will remain at 22% “until there is greater certainty regarding SAF supply,” says the government. The supply of HEFA-derived fuels will be capped after the first two years of the mandate, which will become more stringent over time. A separate obligation (0.2% of jet fuel demand) on power-to-liquid fuels kicks in from 2028 that reaches 3.5% of total jet fuel demand in 2040.

The mandate also introduces tradeable certificates for the supply of SAF, with additional certificates awarded for fuels with higher GHG emissions savings, and a buy-out price mechanism will operate to allow suppliers to discharge their obligation. It is intended that the value of certificates will narrow the gap between the price of kerosene and the cost of SAF, thereby encouraging the production of SAF.

However, the government acknowledges that the mandate alone may not provide sufficient long-term certainty to maximise investment in SAF production in the UK. It has therefore committed through legislation to introducing a revenue certainty mechanism by the end of 2026 to provide investor confidence.

CORSIA implementation

The government has also opened a public consultation on its proposals for how the UK will implement and regulate ICAO’s global Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), which requires airlines to offset CO2 emissions on international routes above a given baseline (85% of 2019 emissions from international aviation). The consultation seeks feedback on proposed penalties for non-compliance.

It also includes proposals on how CORSIA can be implemented while maintaining commitments under the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), including how flights from the UK to Europe can be prevented from being subject to both schemes and measures “to ensure airlines are not unfairly burdened”.

Said the government: “This approach also aims to avoid unnecessary price increases for passengers, ensuring the UK’s decarbonisation efforts do not negatively impact those who rely on air travel.”

The UK is one of 129 countries now taking part in CORSIA and, with the mandatory phase starting in 2027, is offering support to other countries to help them participate in the scheme. The UK has already trained 11 other countries in Africa and other regions to apply the scheme.

“The UK is already at the forefront of global efforts to address climate change and carbon pricing schemes play a vital role in decarbonising aviation,” said Aviation Minister Mike Kane.

“The government is committed to supporting the aviation industry and with our Plan for Change at the heart, we’re helping the UK transition to a cleaner future in the most cost-effective way. We welcome all views on how airlines can continue participating in these crucial initiatives.”

The consultation has been welcomed by IATA. “We support the UK government’s plans to adopt and implement the scheme, and encourage countries to prepare for CORSIA implementation in full alignment with the ICAO CORSIA Standards and Recommended Practices, and to make the needed carbon credits available,” commented Marie Owens Thomsen, SVP Sustainability & Chief Economist.

The UK is implementing CORSIA in two parts, the first of which is the requirement to monitor, report and verify (MRV) CO2 emissions, and has already been incorporated into UK law. The second, on which the government is now consulting, concerns the requirement to offset CO2 emissions, including the applicability and calculation of offsetting requirements and cancellation of CORSIA credits, called Eligible Emissions Units (EEUs), and also the interaction between CORSIA and the UK ETS.

Penalties and enforcement for non-compliance with CORSIA’s MRV requirements are consistent with UK ETS legislation and the government proposes this approach is also followed for CORSIA’s offsetting requirements to ensure uniformity. Therefore applying a civil penalty of £100 ($130) for each CORSIA EEU that an aeroplane operator fails to cancel on time, as well as other non-compliance penalties.

The consultation will run until 10 February 2025.

Update 19 December: The Department for Transport has just released a 170-page technical guidance document and also a compliance document on the UK SAF Mandate.

Photo: Heathrow Airport

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While mitigating CO2 emissions from flights through the sale and purchase of carbon offsets or credits has been around for many years, no such market mechanism exists to address the non-CO2 climate impacts from flights, although some carbon offset providers will apply a simple multiplier to the CO2 emissions to account for them. Contrail prevention technology company SATAVIA is now working to develop a methodology concept that would deliver credits for mitigating climate warming caused by aircraft-induced clouds. The methodology has just been approved for progression by carbon and sustainable development standards body Gold Standard, which could pave the way for the future issuance of non-CO2 Certified Mitigation Outcome Units (CMOUs) to provide a credit-based incentive for aircraft operators implementing contrail management.

Aircraft-generated contrails are short-lived climate forcers (SLFCs) that cause surface warming, which may account for over 60% of aviation’s climate impact, around double that of direct CO2 emissions from aircraft, says SATAVIA.

“SLFCs are an important and growing field of climate impact mitigation, pioneered by Gold Standard in 2015,” said Owen Hewlett, Chief Technical Officer at Gold Standard. “It is clear that in order to combat the climate crisis, we need to couple a serious conversation about the volume and necessity of flights with a significant reduction in the impact of flying.”

Cambridge, UK-based SATAVIA has been working with airlines including Etihad to develop a contrail management platform called DECISION:NETZERO that optimises flight plans for contrail prevention, incorporating contrail likelihood forecasts based on atmospheric and climate science. The platform is designed to validate contrail prevention and achieved climate benefit, using atmospheric modelling and observational data. The company is seeking to build a methodology to convert the achieved climate benefit into future carbon equivalent units that can be traded on voluntary carbon exchange platforms.

“SATAVIA’s methodology is an example of a novel activity addressing SLFCs and will provide aircraft operators with a clear incentive to implement contrail management in day-to-day activity, making a tangible reduction of aviation’s climate impact,” said Hewlett.

Approved for progression, SATAVIA is now aiming to get approval from Gold Standard’s Technical Advisory Committee and has ambitions to achieve Design Certification later this year or early 2024. According to SATAVIA, this will then enable the issuance of contrail CMOUs against declared aviation non-CO2 climate impact inventories, so ensuring their use in support of contrail management activity. It stresses CMOUs will be subject to sector-specific rules and restrictions, so limiting their use to in-sector stakeholders, and in parallel, Gold Standard will also develop registry functionality to allow CMOU trading.

SATAVIA says it will seek CMOU recognition from ICAO in respect of the UN agency’s CORSIA offsetting scheme for international aviation, “with the aim of bringing contrail management incentives to the widest possible market.”

Commented the company’s CEO, Dr Adam Durant: “Our practical approach to contrail mitigation offers an incentive for aircraft operators to immediately start cutting their non-CO2 climate footprint, which we hope will drive rapid adoption across the industry. As a software solution incorporating the excellent and decades-mature atmospheric science available to us, contrail management provides the airline sector with an immediate and tangible option to reduce the climate impact of flying.

“With the incentive provided by Gold Standard CMOUs, aviation could reduce its non-CO2 impact by perhaps 50% before 2030. All we need is a willingness to adopt this approach that, importantly, doesn’t require any changes to regulation and could be deployed at scale today.”

SATAVIA has so far worked with Etihad, KLM and KLM Cityhopper, and Emirates, in addition to multiple operator demonstrations supported by the UK-based European Space Agency through the Business Applications programme.

Since starting aircraft operator contrail management trials in 2021, SATAVIA said having now worked with nine airlines, results had shown on average around a 75-tonne CO2-equivalent saving per flight, with a fuel impact of 0.1% on modified flights only.

“This exciting development will supercharge industry progress towards greener flight operations,” said Mariam Musallam Al-Qubaisi, Head of Sustainability and Business Excellence at Etihad Airways. “By implementing small navigational changes to a minority of flights, Etihad can use SATAVIA technology to prevent contrails and generate CMOUs to support new and more sustainable business models.”

Professor Sir Iain Gray of Cranfield University, Chair of the UK’s Jet Zero Council Task & Finish Group on aviation’s non-CO2 effects, commented: “The aviation sector has, and remains, focused on finding ways to cut CO2 emissions but it is also widely understood that aviation has significant non-CO2 impacts, such as contrails. It’s great to see a UK-based SME leading on ways in which to address contrail management and help mitigate this climate-warming effect.”

EU lawmakers believe non-CO2 effects on climate from aviation are at least as important as the impact of CO2 alone. An agreement earlier this year between the European Council, representing EU member states, and the European Parliament on changes to the EU Emissions Trading System provides for the Commission to implement a monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) system for non-CO2 effects in aviation from 2025. By 2027, the Commission is expected to submit a report based on the MRV and, by 2028, after an impact assessment, make a proposal to address non-CO2 effects.

Photo: SATAVIA/Gold Standard

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In his first public engagement since his coronation, King Charles III has broken ground on the New Whittle Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, a £58 million ($73m) facility aiming to become a leading global centre for net zero aviation and energy. Its mission is to halve the time to develop key technologies to support a sustainable aviation industry. The King met the Laboratory’s staff and researchers, as well as aviation industry and senior government representatives, who gathered for an international roundtable as part of an initiative led by Cambridge and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Participating organisations included the UK government, UK Aerospace Technology Institute, the US FAA, NASA, EU Clean Aviation Joint Understanding, Airbus, Boeing, Rolls-Royce and the Sustainable Markets Initiative. The facility will incorporate the Bennett Innovation Laboratory and the UK’s National Centre for Propulsion and Power, built around a fast feedback model pioneered in motor racing’s Formula One.

“We need to completely transform the innovation landscape in the aviation and energy sectors if we are to reach net zero by 2050,” commented Professor Rob Miller, Director of the Whittle Laboratory, which was opened in 1973 by Sir Frank Whittle, a pioneer in the development of modern power and propulsion systems for aircraft. “The New Whittle Laboratory has been designed as a disruptive innovation lab targeting the critical early stages in the lifecycles of technologies, where there are windows of opportunity to translate scientific strengths into global technological and industrial leadership.”

The roundtable shared insights based on global aviation systems modelling capabilities developed through the Aviation Impact Accelerator, a project led by the Whittle Laboratory and the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.

Today, reported Miller, it typically takes six to eight years to develop a new technology to a point where it can be considered for commercial deployment in the aerospace and energy sectors, but he said recent trials in the Laboratory had shown this timeframe can be accelerated by breaking down barriers that exist between academia and industry.

“The Lab is designed to work at the intersection of cutting-edge science and emerging  engineering applications, providing fast feedback between the two, and dramatically cutting the time to deliver zero-emission technologies,” added Miller.

The Bennett Innovation Laboratory is made possible through a gift from the Peter Bennett Foundation, himself a Cambridge alumnus and philanthropist. “To tackle the most complex challenges, we need to take a whole systems approach, where innovative technologies can be explored within the context of the realities that may impact their roll out. Rigorous testing using models such as the Aviation Impact Accelerator expedites the process of innovation and implementation.

“We need new ways to work together at speed, which is why the Bennett Innovation Lab will bring together global experts from government, industry and academia, enabling radical collaboration. I believe by using Cambridge’s convening power, this can make a real difference fast.”

Attending the event was the UK’s Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, who said: “The UK is leading a revolution in aviation, looking to new technologies to cut emissions. Having established the Jet Zero Council three years ago by bringing together government, industry and academia, I strongly welcome the Whittle Laboratory being at the forefront of that endeavour today. This will further help the best minds from the fields of energy and aviation push ever-further and faster with the latest innovations in order to solve the problem of environmentally friendly and affordable flying.”

Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has had a strategic research partnership with the Laboratory since the 1980s. “We look forward to continuing our relationship over the coming decades and we want our engineers to think of the new Lab as their European home – a unique environment where they can participate in a culture that brings together the best global ideas, expertise, software, tools and testing facilities that can help solve the challenge of climate change.”

The Laboratory also has a long association with aero engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce that has delivered hundreds of technologies into its products, said Rolls-Royce Chief Technology Officer, Grazia Vittadini. “Partnerships like this are critical if the UK is to maintain its role as a science superpower and to create high value jobs in the UK,” she said. “The New Whittle Laboratory offers an exciting opportunity to raise this ambition by bringing together cutting-edge science and engineering application in one building with the aim of meeting the challenge of net zero flight by 2050.”

Also represented at the event was US aeroplane manufacturer Boeing. “Our partnership with the University of Cambridge is central to the effort of making aviation carbon neutral,” said Jim Hileman, VP and Chief Engineer, Sustainability and Future Mobility. “As well as helping us to find technology solutions, it is bringing together different companies and academic disciplines from across the sector to drive change at the system level. We are excited by the way in which the New Whittle Laboratory has been designed to break down silos, bringing together a wide range of disciplines to take on the most challenging net zero aviation problems.”

When Prince of Wales, King Charles visited the Laboratory in 2020 and 2022 to encourage the acceleration of sustainable aviation. He hosted an industry roundtable in 2020 in London with the Sustainable Markets Initiative and the World Economic Forum to explore solutions for decarbonising air travel.

Photo (© University of Cambridge, Lloyd Mann): King Charles at the ground-breaking ceremony for the New Whittle Laboratory

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Image (Boeing): Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9

Christopher Surgenor

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The UK government has published its Jet Zero strategy to achieve a target of net zero aviation emissions by 2050. It expects UK emissions to have peaked in pre-pandemic 2019 at 38.2 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (MtCO2e) and is setting a goal of reducing this to 19.3 MtCO2e in-sector emissions by 2050, with the remainder compensated through carbon markets and investments in greenhouse gas removal (GGR) technologies. The strategy also commits UK domestic aviation, which is responsible for 1.4 MtCO2e (4%) of total emissions annually, to achieving net zero by 2040 and for all airports in England to be zero-emission by the same year. The government believes sustainable aviation fuels are a key technology, particularly for long-haul flights, in reaching net zero and pledges to build “a thriving” UK SAF production industry, and will bring in a SAF mandate by 2025, when it expects at least five commercial-scale plants to be under construction in the UK that will help to ensure 10% SAF use (1.2 Mt) by 2030. Aviation fuel usage reached 12.4 Mt in 2019 and under its ‘high ambition’ scenario, 5 Mt of SAF are required by 2050 to meet net zero. The government also sees hydrogen as playing an important role in the development of future zero emission aircraft.

“We want 2019 to be remembered as the peak year for aviation emissions. From now on, it should all be downhill for carbon emissions and steadily uphill for green flights,” commented UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps on the publication of the Jet Zero Strategy, released at the recent Farnborough Airshow.

Although acknowledging reaching net zero will be challenging and that aviation will be one of the UK’s largest residual emitting industries in 2050, the government believes the sector can reach the target without resorting to demand management to cap its growth.  “Rather than clipping its wings, our pathway recognises that decarbonisation offers huge economic benefits, creating the jobs and industries of the future and making sure UK businesses are at the forefront of this green revolution,” said Shapps.

The foreword by transport ministers to the strategy document says by future-proofing aviation, “passengers can look forward to guilt-free travel. In doing so, our economy can reduce its dependence on dirty energy. We can unlock the benefits of green technology and the thousands of new skilled jobs that come with it. And aviation, often criticised for its contribution to climate breakdown, can safeguard its future through a more sustainable industrial model.”

The government sees six priority areas as part of the strategy, covering efficiency improvements in aircraft and airspace, increasing support for SAF, supporting the development of zero-emission aircraft, developing carbon markets and GGR technologies, providing consumers with better information so they can make sustainable aviation choices and increasing understanding of aviation’s non-CO2 impacts.

The strategy says aircraft fuel efficiency will be improved by 2% every year and the government is pledging a further £3.7 million (4.5m) will be provided in 2022 and 2023 to support airports in modernising their airspace. It will also support the domestic SAF industry and the commitment for five new commercial-scale SAF plants to be under construction by 2025, helped by a new £165 ($200m) million Advanced Fuels Fund. This will build on previous funding, such as the £15 million Green Fuels, Green Skies competition. The government has also announced a £1 million competition to deliver the first-ever net zero transatlantic flight powered by 100% SAF.

It is also supporting industrial R&D through the ATI Programme, with £685 million ($835m) funding over the next three years to support the development of zero-carbon and ultra-low emission aircraft technology, and has also invested £3 million in the Zero Emission Flight Infrastructure (ZEFI) project. The government has an aspiration to have zero emission routes connecting different parts of the UK by 2030. To help achieve the goal, it pledges to double UK ambition for hydrogen production to up to 10GW by 2030, with at least half of this from electrolytic hydrogen. Rapid investment in hydrogen aviation could see the UK, says the government, securing up to 19% of the global aerospace industry share, valued at £178 billion per year in 2050, and 60,000 aerospace jobs on zero-carbon aircraft by the same year.

Although the strategy focuses on reductions in CO2 emissions, the government recognises aviation’s additional climate warming impacts from contrail cirrus and other non-CO2 effects. However, it says, there are “large uncertainties” over the magnitude of these impacts – around eight times more uncertain than those resulting from CO2. Current research indicates SAF can produce 50%-70% fewer soot particles, which could reduce the overall warming effect of contrails, but, says the government, “we will carefully consider any need for additional research and development activity on non-CO2 effects, including working with UK Research and Innovation.” It adds that it is exploring whether and how non-CO2 impacts could be included in the scope of the UK ETS and aims to develop a methodology to monitor non-CO2 impacts “on a regular basis”.

As part of the strategy, the government wants consumers to have access to environmental information at the time of booking a flight and intends working with the CAA on a Call for Evidence to be published this coming autumn. It also wants consumers to have available sustainable modes of transport to and from airports in England.

On the controversial subject of UK airport expansion, the strategy document says: “We will support airport growth where it can be delivered within our environmental obligations. The aviation sector is important for the whole of the UK economy in terms of connectivity, direct economic activity, trade, investment and jobs. We are committed to enabling a green recovery of the sector, as well as sustainable growth in the coming years.

“The government’s existing planning policy frameworks, along with the Jet Zero Strategy and the Flightpath to the Future strategic framework for aviation, have full effect and are material considerations in the statutory planning process for proposed airport development.”

However, it adds: “It is vital that local communities and the wider public have confidence that the impacts of airport expansion have been properly considered.”

The Jet Zero Strategy, says the government, is underpinned by three guiding principles that will apply to all policy measures: providing international leadership, engaging in collaborative partnerships (such as the Jet Zero Council) and maximising the opportunities to create new jobs, industries and technologies. On the first, it intends to carry on its ongoing work at ICAO for member states to agree an ambitious long-term aspirational goal on emissions from international aviation and agree and support measures to meet the goal, including strengthening CORSIA and introducing a global SAF objective. It also expects to build on its collaboration with like-minded states – now numbering 34 in total – through the International Aviation Climate Ambition Coalition (IACAC) that was launched by the UK at COP26.

The government promises to review the strategy every five years and measure progress against its emissions reduction trajectory and key performance indicators that have been set out across each policy measure.

“This strategy provides the clear vision and leadership required to tackle one of the great industrial challenges of our time – decarbonisation of aviation,” commented UK Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng. “Importantly, it is also clear the global shift to cleaner forms of flight represents a huge opportunity to secure growth and jobs for the UK.

“Through the ambitious steps outlined in this strategy and close collaboration with our world-leading industrial and innovation base, the UK stands ready to capitalise on first mover status, seizing the economic benefits of a green aviation revolution.”

Welcoming the government’s net zero strategy, Emma Gilthorpe, CEO of the industry/government Jet Zero Council, said: “This is a key milestone on the path to decarbonising aviation, setting the framework for the Council to continue its great progress on sustainable aviation fuels and zero emission flight, and providing key policies to get us there, including a SAF mandate.

“I also welcome the ambitions for five SAF plants to be under construction by 2025 and zero-emission UK routes this decade, and look forward to working with the Council’s dedicated delivery groups to help achieve this.”

Photo: Heathrow Airport

A planned Saudi Arabian-backed sustainable aviation fuels plant in north-east England could be one of the first to start producing SAF made from household and commercial waste in the UK, following the project’s entry into the Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) phase. The £1 billion ($1.2bn) Lighthouse Green Fuels plant, to be located in the Net Zero Teesside industrial cluster, will use gasification and Fischer-Tropsch technology to convert one million tonnes of waste into 180 million litres of SAF and green naphtha per year, the equivalent of fuelling more than 15,000 short-haul flights a year, and plans to start operations in 2027. The location has the potential to utilise the cluster’s proposed carbon capture and storage (CCS) infrastructure to further reduce the carbon intensity of the SAF produced. Global project development, manufacturing and engineering company alfanar has also announced it is actively evaluating other UK sites for its second and third SAF plants to be built by 2030 and 2035 respectively. To get these investments off the ground, alfanar is urging the UK government to progress its intended SAF mandate and introduce a price stability mechanism for early SAF projects.

“With the third largest aviation network in the world, and with one of the world’s largest potential offshore CO2 stores, the UK has the industrial and geological advantages to become a global leader in developing green aviation fuel with the lowest possible emissions using CCS technology,” said Mishal Almutlaq, Chief Investment Officer of alfanar. “That is why we want to build our first ever SAF plant in the UK by 2027 and two further plants by 2035.”

The Lighthouse Green Fuels project entered the FEED phase last month after awarding the FEED services contract to global industrial engineering company Worley, which will develop the existing front-end engineering package and integrate the licensor scope to provide a greater level of definition to the project. An important phase in any large construction, FEED can comprise a thorough project scope, complete project budget, total cost of ownership, implementation timeline and initial risk assessment. Being the first to reach the FEED milestone, claims alfanar, makes it the most advanced SAF project of its size in the UK.

Welcoming the announcement, UK Aviation Minister Robert Courts said: “Aviation will be central to our future growth, so it’s essential we deliver greener flying. Thanks to alfanar’s investment, the UK could be producing cleaner fuel in a few years, not only making us more sustainable, but also creating more jobs and strengthening our economy.”

The project aims to make fuel that produces 80% fewer GHG emissions than fuel from fossil sources, so saving around 300,000 tonnes per year of emissions. By potentially utilising the East Coast Cluster’s CCS infrastructure, the plant could achieve GHG savings in excess of 750,000 tonnes per year, said alfanar.

The Mayor of Tees Valley, Ben Houchen, said the plant would create 700 good-quality, well-paid jobs during construction and 240 full-time roles when operational, adding: “This milestone by alfanar further strengthens our region’s position as the number one place to develop new clean energy tech.”

The project was awarded £2.4 million ($2.8m) in grant funding last December under the Department for Transport’s Green Fuels, Green Skies competition for the development of SAF production plants in the UK.

“To deliver net zero aviation, the government has already established the Jet Zero Council, has announced grant funding for SAF projects and is consulting on a Jet Zero Strategy. To continue this leadership, and to enable alfanar’s first SAF project and other similar early projects to progress, price certainty is also needed,” said Almutlaq. “We are therefore calling on the UK government to progress the SAF mandate and introduce a price stabilisation mechanism, such as a Contract for Difference for SAF.”

Teesside is the location of the UK’s first Hydrogen Transport Hub and local Teesside Airport is aiming to be the UK’s first hydrogen-ready airport. As well as its SAF production ambitions, alfanar, which has a presence in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Europe, said it plans to develop further green projects in the UK and beyond utilising CCS and hydrogen infrastructure.

Image: Render of proposed Lighthouse Green Fuels plant

The UK government has revealed it expects the first-ever net zero transatlantic flight to take place as early as next year, with an aircraft to be powered solely by 100% sustainable aviation fuel. The announcement came during a visit to the US by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, who during a meeting with airline executives invited the international sector to work closely with the government to deliver the demonstrator flight. The government says it is committed to drive forward the SAF industry, which had the potential to deliver significant carbon savings, improve domestic fuel security, support thousands of green jobs and put flying on a more sustainable path. It acknowledged that current jet fuel specifications do not allow flights to solely use 100% SAF but did not elaborate on how this would be overcome on the net zero flight beyond saying SAF use would need to be “complemented by additional decarbonisation measures to be fully net zero” and referenced greenhouse gas removals.

Currently one of the highest single emitters of greenhouse gases, the government said “aviation is one of our biggest challenges when it comes to making transport green, but the investment and innovations such as SAF are there to make guilt-free flying a reality.”

The new transatlantic initiative has resulted from the Jet Zero Council partnership between industry and government that aims to drive delivery of new technologies and innovative ways to cut aviation emissions, while supporting the UK economy. It is estimated a UK SAF industry could support up to 5,200 UK jobs directly, as well as a further 13,600 through global exports, with an annual turnover that could reach £2.3 billion ($2.8bn) by 2040.

“This trailblazing net zero emissions flight, a world first, will demonstrate the vital role that sustainable aviation fuel can play in decarbonising aviation in line with our ambitious net zero targets,” said Shapps. “That’s not just great news for the environment, it’s great news for passengers who will be able to visit the Big Apple without increasing damaging greenhouse gas emissions.”

The government said it was committed to accelerating the testing and approval of 100% SAF “to unlock the full decarbonisation potential of this technology.” It said delivering the transatlantic flight would help gather data needed to support ongoing and future work to test and certify SAF, “while exploring how engine efficiency improvements, flight optimisation and greenhouse gas removals can contribute to achieving net zero flights.”

Described as a “pioneering test flight”, the transatlantic initiative will be supported by up to £1 million of competition funding to help increase understanding of commercial flights using 100% SAF. It will be open to all airlines covering non-stop UK-US routes, “welcoming their collaboration with wider aviation and fuel stakeholders across the SAF supply chain.” After an initial expression of interest phase opening on May 14 and closing on June 12 2022, successful airlines will be invited to submit a full stage application, following which the funding will be made available competitively to support the testing, research and personnel costs of the initiative.

“This flight, driven through collaboration and bold ambition, is a perfect example of how innovation can and will shape our future lives,” said Indro Mukerjee, CEO of Innovate UK, which is running the competition with the Department for Transport. “It is only by working together that we will see the transformative change needed to deliver on the commitments to meet net zero.”

Aero engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce has been testing its large commercial engines on 100% SAF over the last year. “We have the technology to help the UK government achieve its objectives and we look forward to working closely with them to deliver this milestone transatlantic flight,” said Warren East, CEO of Rolls-Royce. “Just over 100 years ago, Rolls-Royce powered the first-ever transatlantic flight and now we have the innovation and expertise to power the next generation of sustainable aircraft.”

As well as the fuel specifications barrier, the government said it was working with industry on other challenges preventing a higher uptake of SAF, such as high fuel production costs, technology risk at commercial scale and feedstocks availability. It confirmed it was exploring a SAF mandate, supporting the UK SAF industry with £180 million ($220m) of funding over the next three years and establishing a fuel testing clearing house in the UK. In addition to the £180 million funding, £400 million of funding is being made available through a government partnership with Breakthrough Energy Catalyst to drive private sector investment into the next generation of green technologies, through which UK SAF projects can seek additional capital.

The government is aiming to confirm a SAF mandate, as well as specific targets, timescales and scheme design following a second consultation this year. At a fifth meeting of the Jet Zero Council last month, the government launched the Zero Emission Flight Delivery Group that is made up of aviation experts from across industry and government who will work together to realise zero emission flight.

“UK airlines strongly support the development of a UK SAF industry, which will play a vital role in helping our sector deliver net zero emissions by 2050, as we are committed to doing,” commented Tim Alderslade, Chief Executive of trade body Airlines UK, on the transatlantic initiative. “This announcement will provide additional momentum and, alongside the recent £180 million in Treasury support for the development of new UK SAF plants, demonstrates the commitment of government to making SAF a key part of the decarbonisation of aviation. We now need to turbocharge production in order to build the initial three SAF plants by 2025 and UK airlines have shown real commitment to making this happen with our partnerships with Phillips 66, Velocys and LanzaTech.

“We look forward to working with ministers through the Jet Zero Council to continue to explore mechanisms to attract the required private investment – in addition to a planned mandate – so we can help deliver the government’s 10% SAF uptake goal by 2030.”

Photo: Rolls-Royce

A UK government-backed aerospace research project has unveiled a midsize, liquid hydrogen-powered, zero-carbon concept aircraft capable of flying up to 279 passengers non-stop from London to destinations as far away as San Francisco or Beijing, or around the world to Auckland with just one stop. Led by the government-funded Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI), a team of around 100 UK aerospace and aviation experts have collaborated on the FlyZero project to demonstrate the huge potential of liquid hydrogen in regional, short-haul and long-haul flight. Detailed findings from the project are due to be published in early 2022, including on regional and narrowbody as well as midsize concept aircraft, technology roadmaps, market and economic reports, and a sustainability assessment. The midsize unveiling coincides with the fourth meeting of the government/industry Jet Zero Council that has been tasked by the UK prime minister of developing a zero-emission transatlantic aircraft “within a generation”. The government has also announced the eight winning proposals that will share £15 million ($20m) in funding towards the development of sustainable aviation fuel production plants in the UK.

“Fuelling planes sustainably will enable the public to travel as we do now, but in a way that doesn’t damage the planet,” forecast Kwasi Kwarteng, the UK government’s Business Secretary. “It will not only help us to end our contribution to climate change, but also represents a huge industrial opportunity for the UK.”

He said the FlyZero concept aircraft could define the future of aerospace and aviation. “By working with industry, we are showing that truly carbon-free flight could be possible, with hydrogen a front-runner to replace conventional fossil fuels.”

Liquid hydrogen is described by the ATI as a lightweight fuel with three times the energy of kerosene and sixty times the energy of batteries per kilogramme and emits no CO2 when burned. Realising a midsize longer-range aircraft also allows concentration of new fuelling infrastructure to fewer international airports that could help accelerate the rollout of a global network of zero-carbon emission flights to tackle hard-to-abate emissions from long-haul flights, it adds.

The 279-passenger (pax) midsize aircraft concept has a range of 5,250 nautical miles and so would sit between the 244-pax/4,700nm Airbus A321 XLR and the 296-pax/7,560nm Boeing 787-9. ATI says the midsize concept would meet the demands of a unique sector of the market between single aisle and widebody aircraft operations, which together account for 93% of aviation’s carbon emissions.

The liquid hydrogen fuel would be stored in cryogenic fuel tanks at around minus 250 degrees C in the aft fuselage and two smaller ‘cheek’ tanks along the forward fuselage. The cheek tanks also serve to keep the aircraft balanced as the fuel burns off and eliminate the need for any additional aerodynamic structures. The concept aircraft’s 54-metre wingspan – compared to the 787-9’s 60 metres – carries two turbofan engines powered by hydrogen combustion.

FlyZero believes this new generation of hydrogen-powered aircraft will be able to benefit from the lower fuel supply costs that will come as other sectors also move towards hydrogen energy. As well as being zero emissions, they will also have superior operating economics than conventional aircraft from the mid-2030s onwards, it says.

“At a time of global focus on tackling climate change, our midsize concept sets out a truly revolutionary vision for the future of global air travel, keeping families, businesses and nations connected without the carbon footprint,” said FlyZero Project Director Chris Gear. “This new dawn for aviation brings with it real opportunities for the UK aerospace sector to secure market share, highly skilled jobs and inward investment, while helping to meet the UK’s commitments to fight climate change.”

Added the government’s Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps: “This pioneering design for a liquid hydrogen-powered aircraft, led by a British organisation, brings us one step closer to a future where people can continue to travel and connect, but without the carbon footprint.”

The fourth meeting is due to take place today of the Jet Zero Council, a partnership between government and industry, which is co-chaired by Shapps and Kwarteng. “I will continue to work closely with the Council to support the UK’s world-leading research in this sector, which will create green jobs, help us meet our ambitious net zero targets and lead the global transition to net zero aviation,” said Shapps.

Commenting on the FlyZero concept aircraft, the Council’s CEO, Emma Gilthorpe, who is also COO of Heathrow Airport, said: “This ground-breaking green technology looks set to play a critical role in decarbonising flight and through the work of the Council, the UK aviation sector is exploring all avenues to ensure we protect the benefits of flying for future generations while cutting the carbon cost.”

Low-cost carrier easyJet, which is a member of the Council, welcomed the concept aircraft development as it sees hydrogen-powered aircraft playing an important role in its decarbonisation pathway. The airline has seconded one of its pilots, Debbie Thomas, to the project to use her engineering background and flying experience.

“The concept aircraft demonstrates the huge potential of green liquid hydrogen for aviation, including larger gauge aircraft, and I’m very excited to see where we go from here,” said David Morgan, Director of Flight Operations at easyJet. “We are closely involved in the work of the ATI and its FlyZero project and we look forward to continuous collaboration to make -zero-carbon emission flights a reality as soon as possible.”

FlyZero was launched by the government in July 2020 as a 12-month project, with the outputs to be made available for further development and exploitation, and the benefits shared with a wide cross-section of stakeholders to support growth in the UK. Funding has been committed to the ATI until 2030 under a recent government spending review, although details have yet to be released. To date, £1.6 billion ($2.1bn) has been awarded to over 340 collaborative R&D projects across all UK regions, with the aim of supporting the development of innovative aerospace technologies in line with the government’s commitment to reducing aviation emissions whilst driving growth.

As well as backing the FlyZero liquid hydrogen aircraft project, the government is also funding projects looking to develop sustainable aviation fuel production plants in the UK through its £15 million Green Fuels, Green Skies Competition. The following eight companies have been awarded grants towards projects with their early-stage development:

Advanced Biofuel Solutions (£2,054,000)
alfanar Energy (£2,417,500)
Fulcrum BioEnergy (£1,372,957)
Green Fuels Research (£1,940,255)
LanzaTech UK (£3,152,619)
LanzaTech UK and Carbon Engineering (£340,674)
Nova Pangaea Technologies (£484,201)
Velocys Projects (£2,381,000)

Research has indicated that by 2040, a UK SAF sector could generate between £0.7 billion and £1.66 billion a year for the economy, with potentially half of this coming from the export of intellectual property and the provision of engineering services, and create between 5,000 and 11,000 green jobs.

Photo: The JetZero midsize concept aircraft

As the UK prepares to host COP26, the Department for Transport (DfT) has announced the winners of a £3 million ($4m) fund to support zero emission flight aviation. The research and technology projects will help UK airports in handling new types of electric and hydrogen aircraft and cover wireless charging for airplanes and swappable airplane battery packs. The funding forms part of the UK government’s commitment in Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Ten Point Plan for a green industrial revolution, which also includes an ambition for the nation to become world leaders in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production. “With COP26 around the corner, we’re ramping up our efforts even further by funding the technology that unlocks the flights of the future,” said Aviation Minister Robert Courts. The government will be promoting SAF during the two-week climate summit starting in Glasgow on October 31 and is making a supply of SAF available at key UK airports for delegates flying home from the COP. British Airways has already announced the fuel for all its flights between the London airports and Glasgow and Edinburgh during the COP will be covered by SAF.

The latest grants have been awarded under the Transport Research and Innovation Grants (TRIG) Zero Emission Flight Programme, which in turn is part of the wider Zero Emission Flight Infrastructure (ZEFI) project that is examining the introduction of hydrogen and electric aircraft into airports. Under the programme, 15 projects have received funding to undertake innovative science, engineering or technology projects focused on solving the challenge of introducing zero emission aircraft to airports.

Recipients of the grants include Cranfield, Warwick, Strathclyde and Queen’s Belfast universities and a number of UK-based companies and consultants. They also include start-up ZeroAvia, which is developing zero-emission, hydrogen-fuelled powertrain technology. It has received funding for a project to conduct research on the first generation of liquid hydrogen refuelling vehicles.

“As the world reopens from the pandemic, it is essential that we are investing in greener aviation as part of our transport decarbonisation agenda,” commented Transport Secretary Grant Shapps. “Funding these revolutionary projects will help to slash carbon, create jobs and get us closer to our goal of operating zero emission flights.”

The government is backing the development of UK SAF facilities capable of generating over 70% lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions savings by turning materials such as municipal waste into jet fuel and sees COP26 as an opportunity for the UK to demonstrate its SAF commitment. The government/industry Jet Zero Council, which was set up last year as part of the Ten-Point Plan to enable the aviation sector to reach net zero emissions by 2050, has been working to provide the opportunity for delegates attending COP26 to fly home on SAF.

“We hope the use of SAF during the COP, combined with further action from the UK government, will raise awareness and incentivise a more rapid take-up of SAF both in the UK and around the world,” said Leigh Hudson, IAG’s Sustainable Fuels and Carbon Manager, who chairs the Jet Zero COP26 sub-group of the Council. “As well as reducing the overall carbon footprint of the COP and demonstrating the feasibility of SAF supply, the UK will be able to showcase the positive climate benefits of flying on SAF.”

During the past nine months, the group has estimated the volumes of SAF required, set sustainability standards for the UK supply and worked collaboratively on supply and logistics to ensure net environmental benefits can be quantified and communicated, Hudson told GreenAir.

SAF will be dropped into key UK airports during the COP26 meeting using their integrated storage and distribution infrastructure. SAF supply will be available at Glasgow International, Edinburgh International and Glasgow Prestwick in Scotland, as well as London Heathrow and other airports in England. To encourage wider availability of SAF during the climate summit, the government wants other locations and suppliers to take part in the COP26 initiative.

The effort is being coordinated by KTN, which acts as the secretariat to the Council’s SAF delivery group. KTN is curating a COP26 SAF supplier directory to provide a listing of suppliers and producers that have been working through the group and alongside the UK government to provide those flying out of COP26 airports with a range of supply chain options. Suppliers listed to date include Air bp, Neste and Q8 Aviation. The government is encouraging potential SAF suppliers outside the UK keen to support the COP26 initiative to confirm their interest to KTN by email.

“The Jet Zero Council is working to make sure delegates attending COP26 have the option to do so sustainably. Through a truly collaborative effort between KTN, British Airways, Department for Transport and Transport Scotland, nations can now make a tangible difference by ensuring they buy and fly on SAF,” said KTN CEO Alicia Greated. “The work of the Jet Zero Council will also future proof the UK SAF supply chain and create a legacy as we take the learnings from COP26.”

GREENAIR AND COP26

GreenAir Editor & Publisher Christopher Surgenor will be attending and reporting on events at COP26 in Glasgow, which takes place 31 October to 12 November. If you have any COP26 news to share, are hosting any events or are part of the aviation and climate eco-system at the event and would like to meet up, please contact him at christopher@greenaironline.com or via LinkedIn.