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sustainable aviation fuel in the Nordics since 2014. This
year before the EBACE conference it started offering SAJF
to its business aviation customers at Stockholm’s Arlanda
and Caen Carpiquet airport in France.
SAJF is being supplied to Air BP by oil-refiner Neste. The
biojet is produced from used-cooking oil, which is cleaned,
refined and can then be mixed at levels of up to 50% with
fossil fuel-derived fuels.
Tom Parsons, Air BP’s commercial development
manager of low carbon says, “Caen airport was the first
time we have offered sustainable aviation fuel in France. It
shows how we’re committed to working with colleagues
from across the aviation industry to meet carbon
reduction goals. Those targets can only be met with
support from across the entire supply chain.”
Air BP estimates that the industry’s carbon
reduction aspirations could require up to 30%
penetration of sustainable alternative jet fuel
in the market by 2050. “There needs to be
significant growth in conversion capacity to meet
the long-term needs of the industry, which means
investment in both technology and infrastructure,”
says Parsons. “New sustainable aviation fuel
production pathways need to be brought to market,
which will require technical development work and
careful approvals of these new fuel components through
the appropriate standards bodies.”
Standardized supply
Global aviation fuel and services supplier Avfuel has a
similar agreement to BP and Neste’s with Gevo, a company
that produces a biofuel in Texas, USA. Gevo’s biojet is
made from waste oil from food manufacturing, wood or
biocrops. The firm’s process separates carbohydrates
from the protein in the feedstock and ferments it using
specially-designed yeast to make low cost alcohols such as
Above: Air BP is increasing the
supply of its biojet fuel
to European airports
50 | BU S INE S S A I R P O R T INT E RNAT I ONA L J U L Y 2 0 1 9
isobutanol, which can then be blended into standard jet fuel
and supplied for use.
Gevo is developing a large-scale hydrocarbon facility
with a production capacity of up to 12 million gallons per
year, from which Avfuel may purchase up to one million
gallons of concentrated SAJF annually.
As Gevo increases capacity, AvFuel is integrating biofuel
from an existing smaller facility into the supply chain.
Manager of alternative fuels for Avfuel, Keith Sawyer says,
“Our team is committed to helping the industry achieve
its goals of carbon neutrality along with the coalition
organization leaders. We’re pleased with the progress that’s
been made this year to prove SAJF can become a viable
option for the industry.
“To further this initiative, our team is working to
secure greater SAJF supply to champion one of the
largest hurdles yet to the initiative, availability, along
with securing operator commitments for SAJF to
encourage production through greater demand.”
Like Parsons, Sawyer stresses the importance of
SAJF having the same qualities and characteristics
as conventional jet fuel if it is to be a substitute for
it. He says, “There is redundancy built into everything
in an aircraft, apart from the fuel. The fuel has to be
right. We need to ensure that the rigor we apply currently
continues in the future.”
Before SAJF can be designated as meeting the D7566
specification and be sold, it must undergo laboratory,
ground and flight testing to ensure compliance. It has to be
able to withstand the full range of operational conditions
required to maintain the certification basis of the aircraft
and be directly substituted for conventional jet fuel
without modifications to the airframe, engine or logistical
infrastructure. Marcelo Goncalves, a chemical engineer and
product development engineer at Embraer, is a member
of the ASTM Aviation Fuels Subcommittee and also
An aircraft
using a blend of
30% SAJF and 70%
Jet A can reduce
CO2 emissions by
about 18%