For the Wright Brothers with a Righter way - towards an emission-free flying future!
Neeti Mahajan
Normalising Sustainability through Conversation & Impactful Storytelling for People and Planet ?? Climate Change Consultant | GIS Engineer ??? 2x Linkedin News India Featured ?? [email protected]
‘Tis the Holiday Season! Which means, it is also the homecoming season!
As we book our tickets, and make our travel plans to spend the holiday season a nice cozy winter with our loved ones, people in the travel, railway and aviation industry gear up for more trips than usual.
I hate to be the buzzkill, but this also makes me think of more emissions!
Now, I go home a lot of times over the year - I like vacations; I like travelling. Travel is also prerequisite to our life and even our professions at times.
Business Travel and Employee Commute, also make it to the most commonly relevant Scope 3 categories for almost all organisations.
The time I wrote about Sustainability in Space, I also did some side research on Sustainability Aviation Fuel for mainstream airlines - and guess what, it exists!
In 2021, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) pledged to achieve Net Zero Flying by 2050, and while ‘emission-free air travel’ sounds like absolute jargon to me, a Sustainable Air Fuel (SAF) has been in talks for a very long time.
Well, not only in talks, but almost 5,00,000 emission-free airplane trips have even been taken!
IATA defines Sustainable Air Fuel as ‘a liquid fuel currently used in commercial aviation which reduces CO2 emissions by up to 80%. It can be produced from a number of sources (feedstock) including waste oil and fats, green and municipal waste and non-food crops.
It can also be produced synthetically via a process that captures carbon directly from the air. It is ‘sustainable’ because the raw feedstock does not compete with food crops or water supplies, or is responsible for forest degradation. Whereas fossil fuels add to the overall level of CO2 by emitting carbon that had been previously locked away, SAF recycles the CO2 which has been absorbed by the biomass used in the feedstock during the course of its life.
Seven biofuel production pathways are certified to produce SAF, which perform at operationally equivalent levels to Jet A1 fuel. By design, these SAFs are drop-in solutions, which can be directly blended into existing fuel infrastructure at airports and are fully compatible with modern aircraft.’
The idea of SAF came from the concept of Aviation Biofuel. Biofuels, in general as well, can be produced from plant or animal sources such as Jatropha, algae, tallows, waste oils, palm oil, etc., through pyrolysis; also with an alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) process from waste fermentation; or from synthetic biology through a solar reactor.? Even small piston engines can be modified to burn ethanol. Sustainable biofuels do not compete with food crops, prime agricultural land, natural forest or freshwater, and rather are an alternative to traditional electrofuels.
With rising awareness of sustainability, opposition towards traditional fossil fuels, the need for SAF also grew.?
If we go by a timeline, the first plane using blended biofuels - which is essentially a mix of traditional fuel plus biofuel - took flight in 2008. Virgin Atlantic became the first commercial airline to be powered, partly by biofuel, which was mainly produced through algae.
In the US, this was done, maybe through the support of the Natural Resources Defence Council and the Roundtable for Sustainable Biofuels.
The same here, Boeing co-chaired the Algal Biomass Organisation in association with Honeywell’s biofuel technology partner.
In 2009, IATA pledged to be Carbon Neutral by 2020 and halve their emissions by 2050, which they later revised to a net zero target by 2050.
Over the years and in due time, airlines like Quantas and United Airlines have made their own commitments and funded research towards commercial use of SAF.
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While I understand that SAF and renewable air-flying is still extremely niche, there are a few companies already headlining it in this domain.
If you’ve reached here and wondering what India is doing, the Indian government is actively promoting the use of SAF and has set a target of achieving 10 percent blending of SAF with conventional jet fuel by 2030.
The government is working with industry players to develop the SAF supply chain in India. Recently, Indian Oil Corporation, the country's largest fuel retailer, signed an MoU with LanzaJet, a sustainable aviation fuel producer, to build a commercial-scale SAF plant in India. And in India, the SAF will be produced from non-edible renewable resources such as agricultural waste and forestry residues. The plan is also to establish a factory to create SAF with alcohol-to-jet technology at the state-run company's Panipat refinery in Haryana, while exploring financial incentives to encourage the production and use of SAF to address the key challenge of its high cost.
The development of the SAF supply chain could create new jobs in areas such as biomass production, waste management, and fuel transportation. It also opens up avenues for investors. 60 corporate clients in India have invested over EUR 1.4 lakh (approximately $ 152,800) towards purchase of about 220,000 tonnes of SAF for their business travel with Lufthansa and Swiss.
Indian aviation companies are also investing in more fuel-efficient planes, such as the Airbus A320neo and the Boeing 737 MAX, which have lower carbon emissions compared to older planes. In addition, the industry is exploring ways to reduce its carbon footprint through carbon offset programs. Indian airlines such as IndiGo and Vistara have launched carbon offset programs that allow passengers to offset the carbon emissions from their flights by investing in renewable energy projects. While India is not participating in the voluntary phases of the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for Aviation (CORSIA), offsetting requirements for Indian carriers will begin in 2027.
When you talk about sustainable aviation, it is key to address the other side of aviation, which is passengers - when it comes to commercial flying.
The industry exists with such demand and cost, because we need it, and honestly, even want it.
Commercial flying can be easily compared to democracy. Until we don’t want it, until we don’t ask for it - we won’t and get it.
For a conscious airline, there first needs to be a conscious passenger - because the journey (literally and metaphorically) starts from us!
Here are a few insightful links that I found:
Paediatrician
11 个月Virgin Atlantic became the first commercial airline to be powered, partly by biofuel, which was mainly produced through algae. Unbelievable
ESG @ PwC | MBA Sustainability Management | B.Tech. Biotechnology
11 个月This was so packed with so many amazing realisations! Thank you for doing such a thorough research on such an important (and less talked about) topic! I’m so eager to learn more about this!
Bridging Industry Experts and Companies for Strategic Project Outsourcing | Book a Demo Today | CEO @RESEARCHPRENEURS |
11 个月I'm so excited to read your article on Green Aviation and Sustainable Aviation Fuel! ????
Breast Cancer, Laparoscopy and GI Surgeon, Nagpur, India
11 个月It is very satisfying to know that a lot is in the works in this sector that potentially literally violates our immediate environment. Thank you for highlighting a topic that heavily weighs on our climate consciousness
ExxonMobil | Strategic Management | Reservoir Engineer | Energy
11 个月Interesting read! I wasn't aware of the progress we've made in the sustainable aviation fuel space. This is exciting!