As calls for action increase over the climate impacts of aircraft contrails, airborne research is intensifying with the expansion of two key projects in Europe and the US. In Germany, Lufthansa has started converting an Airbus A350-900 for use as a flying research laboratory as part of IAGOS-CARIBIC, a long-running European programme that uses commercial airliners to gather data on air quality for scientific evaluation. The A350 will be equipped with around 20 measuring instruments for a multi-year project beginning late next year to measure trace gases, aerosol and cloud parameters on selected long-haul flights. In the US, engine manufacturer GE Aerospace and NASA have just completed two flights with a Boeing 747 testbed aircraft to record three-dimensional imaging of contrails to better understand how they form and behave in certain conditions. The 747’s emissions were scanned using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology installed on a following aircraft.

IAGOS (In-Service Aircraft for a Global Observing System) is a European programme established in 1994 to assess atmospheric composition, air quality and climate, using commercial jets as research platforms. There are currently 10 widebody Airbus A330 and A340 family jets from seven airlines deployed in the project, with another 10 having previously been used, again from seven participating airlines.  

The Lufthansa A350 selected for the IAGOS programme, registered D-AIXJ, is almost seven years old, and will add a new-generation airliner to the research fleet.

A measuring laboratory weighing two tonnes is being developed for the next phase of the programme, and once fitted with some 20 instruments, will be installed in the cargo hold of the A350 on selected scheduled flights from late 2025.

The onboard laboratory will be connected to the air intake system on the jet’s outer fuselage through permanently installed pipes, and used to measure over 100 trace gases, aerosol and cloud parameters from the ground up to the tropopause atmospheric region, at altitudes between nine and 13 kilometres.

The IAGOS programme is led by the Jülich Research Centre, one of Europe’s largest research organisations, which combines the expertise of global partners in weather services, airlines and the broader aviation sector.

The programme combines the complementary concepts of two research projects: MOZAIC (Measurement of Ozone, Water Vapour, Carbon Monoxide and Nitrous Oxides by Airbus In-Service Aircraft), which was funded by the European Commission between 1993 and 2004, and CARIBIC (Civil Aircraft for the Regular Investigation of the Atmosphere Based on an Instrument Container).  

Lufthansa, which with Air France was an IAGOS launch partner in 1994, has gathered climate-related data for research on more than 35,000 of its passenger flights over the three decades.

Together with the Jülich Research Centre and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, the Lufthansa Group has fitted a total of six Airbus aircraft with measuring equipment since the programme was inaugurated to collect information about atmospheric conditions during scheduled flights.

Lufthansa currently has two aircraft, an A330 and an A340, deployed in the programme, as well as another A330 from sibling airline Eurowings Discover.

On December 9, the Eurowings jet was used to gather climate data during a 10-hour, 45-minute flight from Frankfurt to Orlando, Florida. The information was collected continuously while the aircraft flew at an altitude of more than 10,000 metres (33,000 feet) over a distance of 7,600 km.

Other airlines currently participating in the programme are Taipei-based China Airlines, with two A330s, and Air Canada, Air France, Cathay Pacific, Hawaiian and Iberia, each with one A330.

After each flight, climate information gathered by the aircraft is sent automatically to the database of Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Toulouse, France, from where it is accessible for global research.

The data is currently used by about 300 organisations worldwide to provide fresh insights into climate development and atmospheric composition and help refine climate models and improve weather forecasting.

“We are proud to have been able to make a significant contribution to climate research for 30 years,” said Lufthansa Group’s Chief Technology Officer, Grazia Vittadini. “Through our commitment, we are helping to sustainably improve climate models and weather forecasts. Scientifically-sound findings are the basis for targeted measures on the path for more sustainable aviation.”

GE/NASA contrail research flights

In the US, GE Aerospace and NASA have built upon a 50-year collaboration by performing two research flights for their Contrail Optical Depth Experiment (CODEX) in which three-dimensional imaging was generated of contrails created by GE’s Boeing 747-400 Flying Test Bed aircraft.

The 747 was trailed by a G-111 aircraft from NASA’s Langley Research Centre in Virginia, which deployed Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology to scan the wake of the larger jet, enabling researchers to use new imaging to better understand how contrails form and behave.

During the flight tests, 3D images were generated of contrails from all four CF6 engines on the 747. GE Aerospace was also able to isolate the contrails from a single engine on the test jet.     

The flights expanded the company’s capabilities ahead of flight tests it is planning during this decade to assess the performance of new commercial aircraft engine technologies, including Open Fan, advanced combustion designs and other propulsion systems.  

“Understanding how contrails act in flight with the latest detection technology is how we move innovation forward,” said Arjan Hegeman, GE Aerospace GM of Future Flight Technology. “These tests will provide critical insight to advance next generation aircraft engine technologies for a step change in efficiency and emissions.”

Dr Rich Wahls, manager of NASA’s Sustainable Flight National Partnership, welcomed participation “on this first-of-its-kind flight experiment” in helping to reduce the impact of contrails.

“NASA is advancing the scientific understanding of contrails to improve our confidence in future operational contrail management decisions that consider overall climate impact and economic trades,” he said.

NASA, German Aerospace Centre (DLR) and contrail forecasting and management company SATAVIA, are also working together on atmospheric forecasting to identify the best conditions for studying the formation of contrails. SATAVIA was recently acquired by Aerospace Carbon Solutions, a division of GE Aerospace.

In this collaboration, DLR will help to identify the altitude and dimensions of contrail-forming regions, so that flight tests can be conducted using the LiDAR technology to improve contrail prediction, while SATAVIA will use the flight test results to validate and improve its numerical weather prediction capability, used to forecast contrail formation conditions.

At this year’s Farnborough Airshow, the chief technology officers of GE Aerospace, Boeing, Airbus, Dassault, Rolls-Royce, RTX and Safran called for government support to expand research that enhances scientific understanding of aviation non-CO2 effects such as contrails, nitrogen oxides, sulphur, aerosols and soot.

Top photo: The first IAGOS system has been in use on a Lufthansa Airbus A340-300 since 2011

Bottom photo: GE Aerospace’s 747 Flying Test Bed

Tony Harrington

Correspondent

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The Lufthansa Group has introduced an environmental cost surcharge on all tickets issued from June 26 with departure from 1 January 2025 on flights from the 27 EU countries as well as the UK, Norway and Switzerland. The amount of the surcharge varies between 1 euro and 72 euros ($1.08 – $78), depending on the flight route. It is intended to partly cover “the steadily rising additional costs due to regulatory environmental requirements.” Specifically, Lufthansa cites the impact of the ReFuelEU sustainable aviation fuel statutory blending quota to be introduced for departures from EU countries from January next year, adjustments to the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) and costs of the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA). Luis Gallego, the CEO of International Airlines Group (IAG), which owns British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus and other European carriers, has told The Times that EU mandated net zero targets and the switch to SAF will push up air fares and have a big impact on demand.

In a statement, Lufthansa Group said it was investing “billions in new technologies every year” and was working with partners on innovations to help make flying more sustainably, and had actively supported global climate and weather research for many years.

“However, the airline group will not be able to bear the successively increasing additional costs resulting from regulatory requirements in the coming years on its own,” it said.

The EU SAF blending quota starts at 2% from 2025, 6% from 2030, 20% from 2035 and 70% from 2050. “For the Lufthansa Group, this will lead to additional costs in the billions in the future,” said the group, which includes Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings.

SAF accounted for around 0.2% of the group’s total fuel requirements in 2023, which it says makes it one of the largest SAF customers worldwide.

IAG’s Gallego, reported The Times, said the cost of compliance with the EU’s “demanding” targets could make European airlines less competitive and decarbonisation should be done in a consistent way worldwide that did not jeopardise European aviation.

IATA Director General Willie Walsh has already warned the SAF cost premium would lead to higher air fares. At its recent AGM in Dubai, IATA reported SAF production could rise to satisfy 0.53% of global demand for jet fuel in 2024 at a cost of $3.75 billion to airlines, representing an additional $2.4 billion to what it would cost to purchase the same quantity of conventional jet fuel. It estimated CORSIA-related costs would account for a further $600 million in 2024.

Photo: Lufthansa Group

Christopher Surgenor

Editor

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Photo © Lufthansa Group

Christopher Surgenor

Editor

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Travel technology company Amadeus has bought a minority stake in CAPHENIA, a German renewable energy start-up that next year plans to produce fuels from synthetic gas, created by combining biogas, carbon dioxide, water and electricity. Through its globally patented Power-and-Biogas-to-Liquid (PBtL) process, CAPHENIA expects to produce more than 100 million litres of sustainable aviation fuel per year by 2030, and more than 1 billion litres by 2050. Neither company has revealed the scale or value of the investment, which Amadeus said was part of a broader commitment “to support the industry on its journey toward sustainable travel.” The pre-development phase of the CAPHENIA process began back in 2011 under the CCP Technology name, which then partnered with Lufthansa Group in 2012 for five years to help develop the PBtL process and the company has retained the involvement of a number of ex-Lufthansa Group senior executives as backers.

Lufthansa withdrew from the partnership in 2017, a decision which CAPHENIA said was driven by a change in management and strategy. However, a group of former and serving Lufthansa Group executives remained as shareholders in CCP, which was rebranded as CAPHENIA. They included the former CEO of Austrian Airlines, Kay Kratky; the former CFO of Lufthansa Group, Simone Menne; and the-then CEO of Lufthansa Cargo, Peter Gerber, who is now CEO of Brussels Airlines.

Others later joined them as investors, including Lufthansa Group’s former CEO, Dr Christoph Franz, the former CFO of Swiss, Dr Roland Busch, and another former CEO of Austrian, Dr Peter Malanik.

CAPHENIA claim synthetic fuels developed through its PBtL system have a CO2 reduction of up to 92% compared to fossil fuels, bringing the company’s process “closer to CO2 neutrality than any other fuel production route,” it says. Where standard processes for creating synthesis gases require processing in multiple reactors and units, the German start-up says it uses what it calls a three-in-one zone reactor, which requires much less electricity than other processes and produces fuel faster and potentially cheaper.

The company said construction of a production plant would begin later this year at Industriepark Hochst, a Frankfurt facility with both infrastructure and plentiful supply of biogas and green electricity. As well, it added, the plant’s proximity to Frankfurt Airport would be important in helping to meet airline demand for SAF.

“For airlines, sustainable aviation fuel is the practical, long-term alternative to conventional aviation fuel,” said CAPHENIA’S founder and CEO, Dr Mark Misselhorn. “Our process is affordable – using one-sixth of the electricity needed for alternative SAF production methods – and scalable. We have an ambition to offer large-scale production by 2028, aiming to fill the gap between anticipated SAF demand and current supply.”

Announcing its investment in CAPHENIA, Amadeus said it wanted to participate in decarbonising air transport. “We are committed to supporting the move to sustainable travel,” said Suzanna Chiu, Head of Ventures, Amadeus. “We monitor industry trends and developments to determine the most effective ways we can fulfil this ambition, and are delighted to act with the investment in an innovative SAF company.”

Amadeus said it was “keen to be a part of the discussion and also part of the solution” as the air transport sector worked to decarbonise flights. “Given the important role SAF is likely to have in lowering greenhouse gas emissions from aviation, this means stepping outside the software space on this particular investment,” the company said. “We are keen to see how production ramps up and how CAPHENIA can contribute to the aviation industry’s net zero targets.”

When CAPHENIA succeeded CCP after the Lufthansa withdrawal from the project in late 2017, most of the original shareholders remained, said Dr Misselhorn. The company has now secured more than 150 patents and has another 70 patent applications “in all relevant market regions” to protect various elements of its new fuel process.

“I want to help manage the transition to new fuels,” said Dr Franz, who is now chair of the board of directors at Roche Holding, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical groups. “CAPHENIA’s ground-breaking technology can do just that,” he said in a statement published on the company’s website. “I was already convinced of this as CEO of Lufthansa. That’s why I have invested in CAPHENIA and am actively involved as a shareholder.”

Fellow shareholder Peter Gerber agrees, stating: “Every generation has its challenges. Avoiding carbon emissions is without doubt ours. CAPHENIA’s technology is ground-breaking in this respect: carbon dioxide is turned into a usable commodity on an industrial scale through recycling.”

Photo: Lufthansa Group partnered with CAPHENIA’s predecessor between 2012 and 2017 to help develop the PBtL process

Following a Scandinavian test run last year, the Lufthansa Group has launched its ‘Green Fares’ offering by all its six airlines on more than 730,000 flights per year within Europe and North African destinations Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. Under its “more climate-friendly pledge”, the fares have already built in the extra cost of offsetting all flight-related CO2 emissions, with 20% of the contribution being used to purchase sustainable aviation fuel and the remainder in “high quality” climate protection offsets. The Green Fares can be booked “with just one click” via the airlines’ websites as well as the NDC platform in Economy and Business classes. The Group has also signed an MoU with VARO Energy on the production and supply SAF, deliveries of which could possibly start as early as from 2026. It also revealed more than 20 Boeing 777-300ER long-haul aircraft will be equipped with film modelled on the microscopic structure of shark skin that collectively will reduce the Group’s CO2 footprint by over 25,000 tonnes annually.

“People don’t just want to fly and discover the world – they also want to protect it at the same time,” commented Christina Foerster, responsible for brand and sustainability on Lufthansa Group’s Executive Board. “We already offer the most comprehensive portfolio for more sustainable travel and are now expanding this further with the Green Fares.”

The Green Fares offer, available on flights by Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, SWISS, Edelweiss, Eurowings Discover and Air Dolomiti, is also available to corporate customers, who will receive a CO2 mitigation certificate for the CO2 reduction achieved through the use of SAF.

A random midweek Lufthansa flight in March from Munich to London is quoted at €140 ($150) for a one-way Economy Classic ticket. The cost of the Economy Green fare for the same flight is €165, and has the added benefit of free rebooking, worth €35, and additional 20% status miles and 20% award miles. On the same flight, the Business Green fare in business class carries a €60 premium over Business Saver.

“The Green Fares were already successfully tested last year for flights from Denmark, Sweden and Norway. This showed that the demand for more sustainable travel offers is increasing,” said Harry Hohmeister, who has responsibility for global markets and network on the Lufthansa Group Executive Board. “We are pioneering the industry and living up to our ambition to develop innovative solutions for aviation of the future and we are making it even easier for our customers to book more sustainable offers.”

Under the MoU between Lufthansa and Swiss-based VARO Energy, which they say builds on their existing relationship, the two companies will explore SAF production and supply, and also jointly investigate the use of biogenic feedstock, such as sewage sludge, to produce green hydrogen that can potentially be used at a later stage for e-kerosene.

VARO says decarbonising the aviation industry is a core element of its strategy and is targeting production of more than 260,000 tonnes of SAF per year by 2026, with a long-term target of more than 500,000 tonnes per year.

“Our ONE VARO Transformation strategy is centred on meeting the needs of our customers to decarbonise as they progress in the energy transition while ensuring reliability of supply,” commented Dev Sanyal, CEO of VARO Energy. The company has a majority share in the Bayernoil refinery in southern Germany and a 51% stake in nature-based carbon dioxide removals company SilviCarbon.

The AeroSHARK bionic film developed by Lufthansa Technik and BASF is applied to the aircraft’s outer skin and after a testing and certification process lasting several months, EU safety agency EASA has granted Lufthansa Technik a Supplemental Type Certificate for the series application of the technology on two Boeing 777s. The first SWISS aircraft equipped with AeroSHARK has already been in scheduled service since October as part of the flight test certification programme. Over time, all 12 B777-300ER aircraft will fly with the fuel-saving surface technology, as well as Lufthansa Cargo’s fleet of 11 Boeing 777F freighters.

AeroSHARK consists of millions of ribs around 50 micrometres in size, known as riblets, that imitate the properties of sharkskin and thus optimise the aerodynamics at flow-relevant points, such as the fuselage or the engine nacelles. By covering 950 square metres of a 777-300ER’s outer skin, Lufthansa estimates annual savings of around 400 tonnes of jet fuel and more than 1,200 tonnes of CO2 can be achieved.

“Our ambitious goal is a neutral CO2 balance by 2050 and by 2030 we want to halve our net CO2 emissions compared to 2019,” said Foerster. “With the broad rollout of the AeroSHARK surface technology, we are once again underlining our innovation leadership. We are the first airline group worldwide to use this new technology.”

Photo: Lufthansa Technik

Christopher Surgenor

Editor

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Amidst a forecast that contracted volumes of sustainable aviation fuel under offtake agreements could double this year, four significant SAF initiatives have been announced in the first weeks of 2023. Japan’s two biggest airlines, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways, have signed identical memorandums of agreement with industrial group ITOCHU Corporation and Raven SR, a US-based renewable fuels company, for 10-year deals to buy SAF produced from solid waste. Meanwhile in Europe, Lufthansa Group subsidiary Brussels Airlines has purchased 2 million litres of blended product from SAF producer Neste, the first supplies of which have been pumped direct to Brussels Airport via NATO’s pipeline system. Another Lufthansa company, the logistics group time:matters, has also announced that from this month it will purchase SAF for all of its Sameday Air and On Board Courier services, which distribute time-sensitive shipments ranging from industrial supplies to medical consignments.

The SAF for the two Japanese airlines initially will be produced by Raven in California from 2025, through the non-combustible conversion of waste to synthetic fuel. The process will use a patented ‘Steam-CO2 reforming technology’ to convert feedstocks including green and organic waste, municipal solid waste and methane from the latter.

In parallel announcements, Raven said each of the airline agreements provided for an initial 50,000 tons of SAF supply in 2025, with annual incremental rises ratchetting to 200,000 tons in 2034. Future production would be expanded to additional international locations served by both airlines outside Japan.

“By utilising local and regional waste, Raven SR’s distributive model produces fuels closer to market demand, leading to greater decarbonisation and addressing environmental issues caused by waste in specific regions,” said the company, which is also a member of the advisory board of the 4Aircraft European Programme, an international partnership exploring the conversion of recycled CO2 to SAF. 

Tokyo-based ITOCHU, which is focused on sustainable technologies and industries, invested in Raven in August 2021 to jointly produce and sell renewable fuels worldwide, and introduced the company to both airlines. “ITOCHU will continue to contribute to the realisation of a recycling-oriented society,” the company said, “as well as the United Nations sustainable development goals through the stable supply of SAF to leading airlines in Japan.”

Japan Airlines said the agreement with ITOCHU and Raven, together with existing offtake agreements with US SAF producers Aemetis and Gevo, would enable it to replace 1% of its fuel by the 2025 financial year, and 10% by 2030. “In the current situation where SAF supply is limited, JAL will contribute to the popularisation and market expansion of SAF and promote carbon neutrality in aviation by demonstrating the need for SAF produced from a variety of feedstocks, including used cooking oil, tallow and biomass, as well as waste products.”

For All Nippon Airways, the new partnership adds to a 2020 agreement with ITOCHU to procure Neste SAF produced from waste fats and oils. “As part of our climate transition strategies, ANA is dedicated to being an industry leader with our environmental commitments,” said Hideo Miyake, the airline’s Executive VP responsible for procurement.”

In Belgium, Brussels Airlines, a member of the Lufthansa Group, announced the purchase of 2 million litres of fuel – 2,000 barrels, each of 1,000 litres – containing a 38% blend of Neste SAF. The first supplies were pumped direct to Brussels Airport on New Year’s Day from the fuel producer’s blending facility in Ghent, the first time SAF has been transferred to the airport using NATO’s Central Europe Pipeline System (CEPS).  The total volume of fuel acquired in this transaction is equivalent to the maximum fuel capacity of 73 Airbus A320ceo jets, of which Brussels Airlines has 17. The first batch of SAF was used to fuel “a symbolic first flight” from Brussels to Malaga.

“To achieve our climate goals, we will have to drastically increase the use of alternatives to fossil fuels in the coming years,” said Brussels Airlines CEO Peter Gerber. “Next to fleet renewal, sustainable aviation fuel is the most effective tool currently available to reduce emissions from air travel. The fact that we can now transport the sustainable aviation fuel from the blending facility all the way to our aircraft at Brussels Airport in a fast and environmentally-friendly way is an important step to increase the use of this type of fuel in the near future.”

Brussels Airport is targeting 5% SAF in its kerosene imports by 2026, four years ahead of the same target by the EU. Within Project Stargate, a sustainable aviation initiative led by the airport, and engaging 22 stakeholders, a large-scale SAF blending plant was being explored, but is no longer necessary now that supplies can be pumped directly via the NATO pipeline. “This is an important milestone in making aviation more sustainable at Brussels Airport,” said its CEO, Arnaud Feist. “Having sustainable aviation fuel available at the airport has been a priority for us and we are pleased that, thanks to NATO’s support, this has now been realised.”

Neste welcomed this first use of the CEPS pipeline, Europe’s largest, to supply SAF to Brussels Airport and now expects increased use of the pipeline to supply other airports.

Also in Europe, Lufthansa Cargo subsidiary time:matters has committed to using SAF for all of its Sameday Air and On Board Courier services. In the past year, the global logistics business has offset 97% of its transport emissions, with the remaining 3% reduced through the use of SAF. By 2025, the company wants to reduce its own emissions by up to 50%, mainly by using SAF. The Sameday Air network covers 200 international destinations, and is supported by 21 participating airlines.

“There’s no alternative to sustainable logistics solutions,” said the company’s CEO, Alexander Kohnen. “As a logistics company, we’re contributing to climate change. At the same time, we consider the provision of time-critical transports a matter of life and death in some circumstances. Our focus is on three core activities. We will avoid potential emissions wherever possible, reduce current emission levels and offset unavoidable emissions. At the same time, we’re inviting our customers to act sustainably.”     

In its recent 2023 Outlook, international aircraft leasing company Avolon predicted the volume of SAF under offtake agreements by airlines will double from 40 billion litres of SAF to 80 billion this year.

Photo: Sho233531/Wikimedia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Photo: OMV (andreasjakwerth.com)

American Airlines, Alaska Airlines and Lufthansa Group have each announced major new commitments to purchase sustainable aviation fuel, collectively exceeding 1.2 billion gallons. American, the world’s biggest airline group, has committed to buy 500 million gallons from biofuels producer Gevo over five years, commencing in 2026, and Alaska Airlines will source 185 million gallons of SAF from Gevo in a five-year commitment, also starting in 2026. American and Alaska are both members of the oneworld airline alliance, which last year agreed to a collective target of using 10% of combined fuel volumes by 2030, having been the first global alliance to announce a target of carbon neutrality by 2050 in September 2020. Lufthansa Group has announced a seven-year partnership with Shell to globally source 1.8 million metric tons (around 600 million gallons) between 2024 and 2030. The three deals represent the largest single commitments to SAF by each of the companies, reports Tony Harrington. Meanwhile, Lufthansa Group is now offering a new ‘Green Fare’ that already includes full CO2 compensation in the price.

The latest SAF agreement by American boosts its total low-carbon fuel commitments to over 620 million gallons. But it accounts for just 20% of what is needed to meet its 10% by 2030 goal, says the airline.  “The use of SAF is a cornerstone of our strategy to decarbonise air travel,” said Jill Blickstein, American’s VP Sustainability. “While this landmark investment represents meaningful action by American Airlines, driving progress at the scale and pace we need requires critical policy action in Washington and at the State level.”

Announcing its new SAF deal, fellow oneworld member Alaska Airlines, which has set an ambitious target of net zero emissions by 2040, also amped up pressure for greater policy support to increase the availability of affordable supplies of sustainable fuels. “SAF is the most immediate path we have towards decarbonisation of aviation, but we recognise there is significant work required ahead – including public policy action – to make SAF a viable, affordable option at scale,” said Diana Birkett Rakow, Alaska’s SVP Public Affairs and Sustainability.

In Europe, Lufthansa Group, a member of the rival Star Alliance, has signed an MoU with Shell International Petroleum to investigate the supply of SAF at airports around the world. Comprising Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings and Lufthansa Cargo, Lufthansa Group is the largest collective user of SAF in Europe, it claims. The company said its deal with Shell would be “one of the most significant commercial SAF co-operations in the aviation industry” and the biggest SAF commitment of either company to date. The MoU is also expected to progress Shell’s ambition to ensure SAF comprised 10% of its aviation fuel sales by 2030.

“The Lufthansa Group has been involved in SAF research for many years, has built up an extensive network of partnerships and is driving forward the introduction of sustainable next-generation aviation fuels in particular,” the company added. “Special focus is placed on the forward-looking power-to-liquid and sun-to-liquid technologies, which use renewable energies or thermal energy as energy carriers.”

By using SAF, customers can already fly carbon-neutral today, said the Group. Additionally, they can document their reduced CO2 emissions with audited certificates and have the CO2 savings credited to their individual CO2 balance.

Coinciding with its SAF offtake announcement, the Group announced that four of its members – Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines – had introduced a new range of ‘Green Fares’ that include “full CO2 compensation” in the price. The fares will be available for Economy and Business Class flights within Europe, initially for passengers travelling from Denmark, Sweden and Norway, and displayed alongside other fares types in online booking screens immediately after flight selection. The new fares also include the option of free rebooking, as well as extra status and award miles. From autumn, they will also be available through travel agencies in Scandinavia.

“The Lufthansa Group is the first international aviation group to offer its customers a separate ‘green fare’ for CO2-neutral flying with SAF,” it stated. Through the pilot project, 80% of carbon offsetting will be achieved through high-quality climate protection projects and 20% through the use of SAF, the company added. 

“We want to make CO2-neutral flying a matter of course in the future,” commented Christina Foerster, a member of Lufthansa Group’s Executive Board, responsible for brand and sustainability. “People don’t just want to fly and discover the world. They also want to protect it. We are driven by the need to support our customers with the right offers.”

Photo: Lufthansa

SWISS and the Lufthansa Group have entered into a strategic collaboration with solar aviation fuel pioneer Synhelion, which will enable SWISS to become the first airline to use sun-to-liquid fuel. Synhelion has developed a key technology for producing sustainable aviation fuel using concentrated solar heat to manufacture syngas that can then be synthesised into kerosene using standard industrial processes. Last October, the company announced it had received funding worth €3.92 million ($4.3m) from the Energy Research Program of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, which will be used towards building the world’s first industrial plant for solar fuels in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The facility will cover the entire process from concentrated sunlight to synthetic liquid fuel on an industrial scale, with the end products being solar kerosene and solar gasoline. SWISS is set to become the first customer for the solar kerosene in 2023 and under the collaboration will support the development of another commercial facility in Spain.

“Our team-up with Synhelion is founded on our shared vision to make carbon-neutral flying in regular flight operations possible through the use of solar fuel,” said SWISS CEO Dieter Vranckx. “In partnering with them, we are supporting Swiss innovation and are actively pursuing and promoting the development, the market introduction and the scaling-up of this highly promising technology for producing sustainable fuels.”

Together with the Lufthansa Group and sister airline Edelweiss, SWISS has been working with Synhelion on solar fuels since 2020. The airline said it would be substantially increasing its use of SAF in the next few years to help achieve its climate objectives, although it acknowledges that in view of the limited availability of biofuels, alternatives will be required.

“This is why we are actively supporting the development of solar fuels,” said Vranckx. “We want to be a pioneer in their use, so our involvement with Synhelion is a key element in our long-term sustainability strategy.”

Synhelion evolved from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) in 2016 as a clean energy company with an aim to decarbonise transportation. In 2019, it demonstrated the feasibility of its technology based on process heat from concentrated sunlight under real operating conditions in a small pilot plant with ETH Zurich. The following year, it tested a second prototype with artificial sunlight at the German Aerospace Centre’s (DLR) Synlight facility and in 2021 partnered with consulting and engineering company Wood on a test facility for the production of syngas, which was set up on DLR’s solar tower in Jülich, North Rhine-Westphalia, to demonstrate the technology on an industrial scale.

The project to build the industrial production plant at Brainergy Park Jülich is being carried out by Synhelion Germany, DLR and the Solar Institute Jülich of Aachen University of Applied Sciences. Synhelion Germany was formed last year following the acquisition of Heliokon, an expert in concentrated solar power founded in 2016 and a spin-off from DLR. In addition to the German government funding, Synhelion raised a further 16 million Swiss francs ($17.4m) in a Series B funding round last November. A paper by members of Synhelion, ‘Drop-in fuels from sunlight and air’, was published in the journal Nature the same month.

“We believe in a globalised world connected by climate-friendly mobility,” commented Dr Philipp Furler, Synhelion’s co-founder and CEO. “Our next-generation carbon-neutral solar kerosene is an economically and ecologically viable substitute for fossil fuels. The commitment of SWISS and the Lufthansa Group underlines the aviation sector’s keen interest in our solar fuel.”

Top photo: The Very High Concentration Solar Tower of IMDEA Energy was built as part of the EU’s Horizon 2020 ‘Sun-to-Liquid’ project. It is located in Móstoles, a suburb of Madrid, Spain. Synhelion has been renting this facility, featuring a 1,000m² solar field, to develop and test its solar fuel technology on a medium scale. (source: Synhelion)

MRO and technical aircraft services provider Lufthansa Technik has joined with Hamburg Airport in an initiative to design and test maintenance and ground processes for handling liquid hydrogen (LH2) that is expected to be used in powering future aircraft. The two-year research project, which has received funding from the city of Hamburg, will also involve the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Center for Applied Aeronautical Research (ZAL). As part of the project, a decommissioned Airbus A320 aircraft will be converted into a stationary, fully functional field laboratory equipped with LH2 infrastructure at Lufthansa Technik’s base at the airport. In the first phase, due to be completed by the end of this year, the partners will identify areas for developing and elaborating the concept for subsequent testing with the aim next year to jointly implement a pioneering demonstrator to be operational by 2022. Elsewhere in Germany, start-ups Deutsche Aircraft and H2FLY have agreed to work together on developing hydrogen fuel cell technology for commercial regional aircraft.

As well as contributing to the Hamburg project operational expertise in the maintenance and modification of commercial aircraft, Lufthansa Technik says it is also able to incorporate a customer perspective through its airline customers. In parallel, DLR will be creating a virtual environment to achieve digital and highly accurate mapping of the defined fields of development and says the platform will aim to provide inspiration for the next generation of aircraft through parameterised and highly accurate virtual models. DLR adds that it has long-standing and cross-sector experience with hydrogen.

“The aircraft of the future are lighter, more efficient and fly with alternative propulsion concepts, and hydrogen will play an important role in this. We need to learn – promptly and in detail – the ground requirements for aircraft and their maintenance of real-world operation with hydrogen,” explained Dr Markus Fischer, DLR Deputy Board Member Aeronautics. “In the project, we are using this data and experience to develop digital models for ground processes that can then be used directly in the design of future-oriented and yet practical aircraft configurations.”

Hamburg Airport CEO Michael Eggenschwiler said climate-friendly flying with hydrogen technology was only possible through a perfect fit with ground infrastructure. “Close coordination is required here and we as an airport are pleased to be able to contribute our know-how to this important project, from questions over storage and distribution to the refuelling process on the apron.

“At the airport, we also rely on hydrogen as a technology of the future for our ground transport. This project offers us the chance to identify and make the best possible use of synergy effects between gaseous hydrogen, such as that used for refuelling our baggage tractors, and liquid hydrogen for aircraft refuelling.”

ZAL, meanwhile, will provide its know-how in fuel cell technology and digital process mapping. “The development of a field laboratory and a digital twin are important components of Hamburg’s Green Aviation Technology Roadmap,” said ZAL CEO Roland Gerhards. “They were developed together with the members of the Hamburg Aviation Cluster last year to strengthen Hamburg’s competence in research and development in a European context.”

The project is the largest single initiative in a City of Hamburg’s special programme to mitigate the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the aviation industry.

“Hamburg is not just one of the three largest aviation clusters in the world – last year the city also developed a clear vision of becoming a major hydrogen metropolis,” said Michael Westhagemann, the city’s Senator for Economics and Innovation. “The port, the energy sector, industry and the entire mobility sector are involved and are preparing for this groundbreaking technology.

“With this project, we are now also making an essential contribution to the transformation of aviation into a climate-neutral mobility solution of the future. The clear goal is to build up a hydrogen economy in Hamburg that will occupy a leading position internationally.”

Responded Lufthansa Technik CEO Dr Johannes Bussmann: “I am very grateful for the foresight of the city of Hamburg and its generous funding of this project.

“There is no alternative to the transformation of our industry towards climate-neutral aviation. With this project, we want to tackle this enormous technological challenge at an early stage – for the entire MRO industry as well as for us. We are building up know-how today for the maintenance and ground processes of tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, the partnership between German start-up H2FLY, which is developing hydrogen fuel cell systems for aircraft, and a new German aircraft manufacturer Deutsche Aircraft will aim to convert a Dornier 328 aircraft for a first hydrogen flight in 2025.

The programme is expected to validate climate neutral regional air travel with up to 40 seats and the teams are planning to equip the demonstrator with a 1.5MW hydrogen system which they say will make it the most powerful hydrogen-electric powered aircraft to date. The companies will work together on integrating the power system into the aircraft as well as defining the specific technical and certification requirements for fuel cell systems in EASA’s large aircraft class.

H2FLY grew out of a partnership between DLR and the University of Ulm and its four-seater hydrogen-electric powered HY4 has already undertaken over 70 take-offs in flight campaigns. With its range of up to 750km, the company believes regional markets can be developed.

“Hydrogen fuel cell technology provides an opportunity for us to completely eliminate carbon and NOx emissions from regional flights and the technology to make that happen is closer than most people think,” said Prof Dr Josef Kallo, co-founder and CEO of H2FLY.

“Over the last 16 years we have worked hard to demonstrate our technology on smaller aircraft, completing record breaking flights based on six powertrain generations. We are pleased to be taking that to the next level with Deutsche Aircraft as we scale our efforts up to regional aircraft.”

Deutsche Aircraft says it is putting climate change at the heart of its design philosophy. “We are looking forward to partner with companies that not only share our passion for the environment but also have the technical expertise to ensure climate-optimised aviation stays safe and reliable,” said Martin Nüsseler, Deutsche Aircraft’s CTO.

The company says the higher propulsive efficiency of propeller-powered aircraft will drive a change in propulsion technology that will result in further reductions in fuel consumption and emissions.

“Combining modern propeller aircraft design with zero carbon energy sources is central to achieving climate-neutral air transportation,” added Nüsseler.

Commenting on the project, Thomas Jarzombek, Member of the German Bundestag and Coordinator of the Federal Government for German Aerospace, said: “From 2035 onward, hybrid-electric flying has to be the new standard in Germany. The German government will continue to support this path to innovation with its R&D funding programme, aiming to let the vision of zero-emission aircraft become a reality.”

Top image: Airbus