This story was originally published by The Guardian and appears here as part of the Climate Table collaboration.
British Airways has signed an agreement for jet fuel made from recycled cooking oils and other household waste to be produced on a large scale in the UK and in use from 2022 to help power its flights.
The airline revealed late Thursday that it had reached an agreement with a refinery in North Lincolnshire to purchase thousands of tons of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which it said would add up to the equivalent of 700 transatlantic flights on a Boeing 787. with network. zero carbon emissions.
BA has pledged to power 10 percent of its SAF flights by 2030, and has forged partnerships with US fuel suppliers and invested in the future. waste-to-fuel plant to be built in the northeast of England.
The deal with the Phillips 66 Humber refinery will bring greener commercial jet fuel production to the UK ahead of schedule. While SAFs still produce carbon emissions in flight, recycling reduces “life cycle CO2 emissions” by more than 80 percent compared to traditional jet fuel, airlines say.
Sean Doyle, CEO of BA, said it was “another important step in our journey towards net zero carbon emissions”, adding: “The UK has the resources and capabilities to be a world leader in SAF development. and expanding the SAF production requires a truly collaborative approach between industry and government. “
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Darren Cunningham, general manager of the refinery, said the site would be the first in the UK to produce SAFs at scale. “We are currently refining almost half a million liters of sustainable waste feedstock a day, and this is just the beginning. Low carbon product markets are growing and this agreement demonstrates our ability to supply them. “
BA’s parent company, IAG, was one of the first leaders to commit to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050, albeit largely through compensation, which is viewed with a lot of skepticism by environmental groups.
Sustainable fuels are seen as the only medium-term solution to reducing aviation emissions, especially for long-haul flights, although airlines and manufacturers have claimed that electric airliners could be in service by 2035.
British Airways has signed an agreement for jet fuel made from recycled cooking oils and other household waste to be produced on a large scale in the UK and in use from 2022 to help power its flights. #Air travel
On Wednesday, United Airlines operated a passenger flight from Chicago to Washington that it said was the first to run on 100% sustainable fuel. The fuel was used in one of the two engines, to comply with the rules that allow a maximum mixture of 50 percent SAF with kerosene.
the Federation of Aviation Environment has argued that SAFs are based on eliminating greenhouse gas emissions in other parts of the economy in a similar way to offsets, but they release both CO2 and jet fuel when burned in flight; They can also be expensive and energy intensive and cause more emissions.
Reference-www.nationalobserver.com