The UK government has released long-awaited details of its intention to implement a SAF mandate from 1 January 2025 that aims to deliver emission reductions of 2.7 MtCO2e in 2030 and 6.3 MtCO2e in 2040 through the use of sustainable aviation fuels. From 2025, SAF will have to make up at least 2% of total UK jet fuel demand, increase on a linear basis to 10% in 2030 and then to 22% in 2040. From 2040, the obligation will remain at 22% until there is greater certainty regarding SAF supply, says the government. A separate mandate will be introduced from 2028 on power-to-liquid (PtL) fuels, with ..read more

The UK government-funded SAF Clearing House, led by the Energy Institute at the University of Sheffield and supported by Ricardo UK, has been officially launched. It will provide advice and support to fuel producers on the development, testing, qualification and production of new fuels entering the aviation market. All new aviation fuels must meet strict performance standards before they can be qualified as safe to use in aircraft and must undergo stages of testing in accordance with industry recognised standards. The cost and complexity of testing can be a significant barrier to new fuels en ..read more

UK leisure airline Jet2.com has purchased around 650 tonnes of SAF from Shell Aviation, which will be used to add a 1% SAF blend onto a number of departing flights from London Stansted this year, with a further 350 tonnes purchased from Q8 Aviation for use at Bristol Airport. The airline, the UK’s third biggest, has made an equity investment in the Fulcrum NorthPoint SAF production facility due to be constructed in north-west England. However, said the company, without a fully-fledged domestic SAF industry, the UK remained reliant on fuel imported at a high cost or airlines would otherwise in ..read more

An IATA report to compare leading decarbonisation roadmaps for the aviation sector has found significant differences regarding how technologies and solutions may evolve in the transition to net zero. Although all roadmaps assume sustainable aviation fuels will be responsible for the greatest amount of CO2 reductions by 2050, their role varies from 24% to 70%. This, says the report, reflects the uncertainties regarding potential supportive government action, the level of investments, cost of production and profit potential, as well as access to feedstocks. This first analysis undertaken to pro ..read more

At a joint presentation in London, European low-cost carrier Wizz Air announced it has set a goal of powering 10% of its flights with sustainable aviation fuel by 2030, while its UK SAF partner Firefly unveiled plans for an initial sewage-to-SAF demo plant on the east coast of England. The fast-growing airline is looking to expand its current fleet of 206 Airbus narrowbody fleet to around 500 by the end of the decade and meeting its aspirational SAF target will require a significant ramp-up of SAF production and deployment, it acknowledged. Adopting a portfolio approach, Wizz Air has entered ..read more

SATAVIA has claimed significant reductions in climate-warming contrails from a range of commercial jet types during a 10-month test programme conducted last year on 65 flights operated by 12 airlines. The UK-based company said route optimisation developed using its DECISIONX contrail software had collectively avoided over 2,200 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), or an average of more than 40 tonnes per flight, with minimal impact on aircraft fuel consumption or flight distances. Contrails are formed in specific meteorological conditions which cause vapour to freeze around soot partic ..read more

US sustainable aviation fuel production startup DG Fuels has selected Fischer-Tropsch (FT) technology co-developed by Johnson Matthey and energy giant bp for its proposed $4 billion SAF plant near the Mississippi River in Louisiana. Subject to approval being received this year, the St. James Parish facility could be in operation by 2028 and would be the largest announced FT SAF production operation in the world, says DG Fuels, with a planned capacity of 13,000 barrels per day, or around 120-135 million gallons of SAF annually. The FT CANS technology is feedstock agnostic although the facility ..read more

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 m ..read more

Air New Zealand is seeking partnerships with emerging providers of sustainable aviation fuel as part of an expanding programme to reduce its flight emissions through industrial collaboration. Having previously linked with established SAF producers and both aircraft and powertrain manufacturers the airline now wants SAF innovators and start-ups as potential suppliers of low-carbon fuel, which it expects will comprise about 20% of its requirements by 2030. Air New Zealand’s search for SAF partners follows the recent release of a study by Ara Ake, New Zealand’s Future Energy Centre, which examin ..read more

The UK aerospace sector has published a first-of-its-kind Non-CO2 Technologies Roadmap that sets out a collective ambition to improve understanding of non-CO2 aircraft emissions and the technology advancements needed to address their climate impact. Non-CO2 emissions from aviation are considered to contribute a climate impact in terms of global warming but there remains a high level of scientific uncertainty as to the quantified impacts. Developed with input from almost 100 leading experts from industry and academia, the roadmap aims to reduce this uncertainty and deliver technology solutions ..read more