Continued support for sustainable aviation fuels is vital for reaching net zero
In the face of a climate crisis, the aviation industry, among others, are working at speed to reach net zero emissions by 2050. While some may argue we need to significantly reduce the number of flights to meet this target, we believe the solution lies with flying more sustainably. With the UK’s love of air travel, having had 224 million UK air passengers in 2022 and our reliance on air freight, part of the solution to flying greener must be through employing sustainable aviation fuels (SAF).
Last week’s King’s Speech confirmed continued support for the SAF mandate, which will ensure that 10 per cent of all jet fuel in flights taking off from the UK comes from sustainable sources by 2030. This sustained support is welcome and highlights the importance of the policymakers and industry innovators coming together to ensure we realise our climate ambitions.
But what are these sustainable sources? SAF is an alternative to highly polluting fossil fuels. These fuels see significant reductions in carbon emissions over the lifecycle of the fuel.
Renovare Fuels coverts organic waste matter to produce greener, cleaner fuels. Although there are emissions produced during any form of engine combustion, using SAF can reduce carbon by up to 97 per cent. As aviation is a vital way for people to travel internationally, SAF is essential to tackling the aviation sector’s carbon emissions.
Late last year, Virgin Atlantic operated the first ever commercial transatlantic flight using only SAF, from London Heathrow to New York. As cleaner energy sources used in aviation continue to develop, we will see further milestones reached along the transition to net zero.
International collaboration to achieve these ambitions is necessary as SAF adoption must be widespread in order to lowering emissions in a practical way. We need to ensure that both long and short haul flights are included as a significant proportion of emissions occur during take-off and landing. While long haul flights cause more emissions overall, shorter flights produce a higher proportion for the amount of time they spend flying.
The innovative technology already being used at Renovare Fuels sees biodegradable waste materials, such as household rubbish, wastewater, agricultural waste or food waste, converted into liquid biofuels.
There is much work to be done in the sector by 2030, let alone 2050, and Renovare Fuels’ mission is working to scale up the accessibility of greener, alternative fuels as quickly as possible.
It is vital to develop SAF as quickly as possible as the 20 largest airports produce as much carbon emissions as 58 coal-fired power stations. The current demand for cleaner fuels far outstrips supply. Renovare Fuel’s solution has scope to create more capacity to help address the supply chain demands.
With continued support for the Department for Transport’s SAF mandate, and the major political parties supporting its further development, the industry will be able to continue the vital work to drive their production by investing in cutting-edge technology for years to come.
As we create more waste-derived fuel production plants and airlines more frequently utilise SAF, the financial burden in accessing the innovative fuels will in turn decrease. However, to get to that point, sustained financial investment into the industry is required.
Renovare Fuels is expanding at pace with a new SAF site due to open within months in Northern Ireland. The plant is set to produce close to 2 million litres of SAF annually and will supply UK-based fuel distributors, multinational petrochemical and airline companies.
Additionally, the company has the technological capacity to produce over 250 million litres of SAF by 2035, which will make a significant contribution to the global industry, all while operating through modular structures on existing anaerobic digestion and landfill sites.
Renovare Fuels’ headline ambition is focused on raising enough equity over the next five years to allow for dozens more projects, which would generate up to 35 million litres of biofuels annually. By producing these additional projects, we will be able to continuously develop our cutting-edge technology driving the transport sector to net zero emissions in aviation ahead of the 2050 goal.
As individuals, governments, NGOs and business, we need to do everything we can to reach net zero. At Renovare Fuels, we believe that part of that solution to achieve this is to fly greener, and with continued industry collaboration, we can build a strong path to a more sustainable aviation sector for years to come.
Duncan Clark is the Development Director at Renovare Fuels.
