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.

In a presentation held at British Airways’ London Heathrow maintenance base, BA Chief Executive Sean Doyle unveiled a new sustainability programme and campaign called BA Better World. It included the announcement of a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) collaboration with fuel provider bp related to the upcoming COP26 climate change conference in the UK and an extension of its offsetting partnership with Pure Leapfrog enabling customers to include SAF as a purchase option for the first time. In a show of support for BA’s wide range of sustainability initiatives, the event was attended by representatives from organisations including the airline’s SAF partners Velocys and LanzaTech, carbon capture firm Carbon Engineering, Airbus and electric-hydrogen aircraft pioneer ZeroAvia. Mark Pilling reports from one of the first in-person sustainable aviation events to be held since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. British Airways has since carried out a ‘Perfect Flight’ using a new ‘BA Better World’ liveried A320neo between Heathrow and Glasgow that was its first-ever commercial flight to be powered by SAF. The airlines said emissions from the flight were 62% lower compared with a similar length Perfect Flight a decade ago.

Presenting the UK flag carrier’s new sustainability programme ahead of COP26 starting at the end of next month in Glasgow, Doyle said: “We all know this is going to be a pivotal moment for change across every industry.

“With BA Better World we’re on our most important journey yet – to a better, more sustainable future and one which will ensure the long-term success of our business. We’re clear that we have a responsibility to reduce our impact on the planet and have a detailed plan to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, including investing in more fuel-efficient aircraft, improving our operational efficiency and investing in the development of sustainable aviation fuel and zero emissions aircraft.”

Stressing its environmental credentials dated back to 1992, when Doyle said BA was the first airline to report its carbon footprint, the carrier is the latest to publicly lay out its sustainability roadmap and insists the issue is a strategic priority.

Doyle made his presentation with one of BA’s first Airbus A320neos as the backdrop. The aircraft has been symbolically painted in a blue ‘BA Better World’ scheme. “The aircraft serves as a constant and visual testament to our colleagues, customers and to all of our stakeholders of the commitment we are making today, which is to put sustainability at the heart of our business,” said Doyle. “The aircraft is part of a much bigger story for British Airways, about how we emerge from the pandemic, thrive and have a more sustainable future.”

The introduction of more fuel-efficient aircraft, such as the A320neo, along with aircraft technology advances such as zero emissions aircraft, is an important component of BA’s detailed plan to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, said Doyle. In a video presentation (see below), BA’s roadmap to 2050 sees a third of its emissions reduction coming from this source, with a further third coming from the use of SAF, which it says will meet 50% of all fuel needs by mid-century, and the remaining third from “robust” carbon reductions and removals in other sectors. Doyle emphasised achieving net zero by 2050 will take time and partnerships with government and industry, and that new SAF plants needed seed funding and required price certainty for investors.

Doyle announced a collaboration with long-standing fuel partner Air bp to source enough SAF to cover all its flights between London’s City, Gatwick and Heathrow airports and Glasgow and Edinburgh airports during COP26, which he said would reduce lifecycle emissions by up to 80%. COPs usually attract around 30,000 delegates but with international travel Covid restrictions in place, numbers attending this year remain uncertain and Doyle said BA’s schedule over the COP26 period is still therefore to be determined. However, there is expected to be heavy air traffic on the routes between London and Scotland, and the airline has provisioned for enough SAF to offset the equivalent jet fuel used on all flights over the two-week event. The SAF, blended at around 40% with conventional fuel, will be produced from used cooking oil, imported into the UK and will be co-mingled into the fuel distribution systems at the three London airports. Doyle pointed out that BA now also buys offsets to cover emissions on all domestic flights.

“Our companies have a long-standing relationship and will continue to work together on sustainable aviation fuel supply initiatives on an on-going basis,” said Martin Thomsen, Senior Vice President of bp’s aviation business. “At bp we want to help decarbonise the aviation industry and we will continue to collaborate with industry stakeholders and governments to explore viable options to help scale up sustainable aviation fuel more broadly.”

Thomsen told GreenAir the company is making small batches of SAF at its R&D facilities with a view to scaling up production in the future. It is also a long-term supplier and partner with BA, and has signed wide-ranging SAF collaboration deals with other carriers, for example Qantas. The company does have other such partnerships with global airlines, but these have not been announced at this time, he said.

Doyle said the collaboration with bp forms part of British Airways’ long-term commitment to the development and use of SAF. The airline’s parent company, International Airlines Group (IAG), is investing $400 million over the next 20 years into the development of SAF, with BA having formed partnerships with a number of technology and fuel companies to develop SAF plants and purchase the fuel, including Velocys in the UK and LanzaJet in the US. Doyle said he expected the airline would be taking its first SAF supplies from LanzaJet by the end of next year, “which will be an important milestone.”

British Airways, as part of an IAG commitment, recently stated it would power 10% of its fuel needs with SAF by 2030, which Doyle conceded was “very ambitious”.

“But the demand from the industry is there, and now we need to create the supply,” he added. “Although we don’t have a SAF plant up and running in the UK as yet, we’re trying to develop one in Humberside and that’s making good progress with Velocys. If more supply is there, maybe the target can be revisited.”

In the meantime, he said, carbon offsets, although an interim solution, are accessible “right now” and can have a positive impact supporting community projects and biodiversity around the world, as well as offsetting carbon. “In the future, we expect offsets to migrate into supporting funding and research in carbon capture technology.”

BA also announced that customers can now buy SAF to reduce their carbon footprint via its offset partner Pure Leapfrog and SAF partner bp during the online booking process. As well as the existing option for customers to offset their emissions through supporting three projects, another option is a combination of 10% SAF purchase and 90% carbon offsets.

The airline’s Head of Sustainability, Carrie Harris, revealed BA is also in dialogue with its top corporate customers about helping them reduce their carbon footprint from flying through an opportunity to purchase SAF. “They are all really interested in this topic,” she said.

Added Doyle: “The more opportunities we have to talk about ways to offset emissions, the more credible and tangible it becomes and it also drives awareness of the wider challenge we face as an industry. Sustainability is at the heart of every conversation we have with our customers.”

Since the unveiling of the Better World A320neo at the event, British Airways carried out a Perfect Flight from Heathrow to Glasgow on September 14, the first-ever passenger flight by the airline to be powered directly by sustainable aviation fuel. BA teamed up with Heathrow and Glasgow airports, the UK’s air traffic control organisation NATS, Airbus and bp to demonstrate innovations such as continuous climb and descent, SAF and the use of electric ground operations vehicles. Remaining emissions are to be offset, to achieve a carbon neutral flight.

BA operated its first Perfect Flight in 2010 on the Heathrow to Edinburgh route and the airline says the aim of Glasgow flight was to demonstrate how far the aviation industry has progressed in decarbonisation efforts since then. The use of the A320neo, which burns 20% less fuel than its predecessor aircraft, and SAF, which was blended at 35% with traditional jet fuel, along with the other fuel saving measures, resulted in a 62% reduction in CO2 emissions compared to the 2010 flight, reported the airline.

Those measures included the aircraft being pushed back using one of the airline’s electric Mototok vehicles, powered by Heathrow’s supply of 100% renewable electricity, and using just one of the aircraft’s engines to taxi out to the runway and taxi in to the stand at Glasgow.  Air traffic controllers at NATS directed the aircraft on its continuous climb from Heathrow and descent into Glasgow without airborne holding, and NATS provided the most direct routing and most optimal flight level. Climb speeds were programmed in advance and aircraft computer systems worked out the optimum altitude and used accurate weight and wind data to ensure the most efficient journey possible.

The data from the flight will be analysed to fully understand the benefits and how the techniques and procedures used can be implemented in the everyday and in the future.

“We learn a lot from projects like this, which can inform future airspace designs and ultimately make UK skies more sustainable,” said Ian Jopson, Head of Sustainable Operations at NATS.

In order to reduce the weight of the new aircraft and lower fuel burn, British Airways has installed newer, lighter seats, lighter catering trollies and replaced heavy flight manuals and inflight magazines with digital downloads.

“This flight offered a practical demonstration of the progress we’re making in our carbon reduction journey,” commented BA CEO Sean Doyle. “By working together with our industry partners, we’ve delivered a 62% improvement in emission reductions compared to a decade ago. This marks real progress in our efforts to decarbonise and shows our determination to continue innovating, working with governments and industry, and accelerating the adoption of new low carbon solutions to get us closer still to the Perfect Flight of the future.”

Photo: bp’s Martin Thomsen (left) and Sean Doyle of British Airways

Mark Pilling

GreenAir Contributing Editor

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Additional reporting by Christopher Surgenor

Editor’s note: This article was updated on September 16 to include coverage of BA’s Perfect Flight demonstration