Aviation
Commercial /
Europe
New fuels
Air France flight debuts biofuel from oil company Total
A320
Daniel Eledut/Unsplash
Gabriela Ramos
5/22/2021
On an Air France flight, the oil company Total debuted its sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which had announced the start of production about a month ago. The fuel is produced in the south of France, at the La Mède biorefinery, and is made from waste and recycled cooking oil.
The flight that debuted the SAF of the oil company was number 342, from Air France, with an Airbus A350 that left Paris airport last Tuesday (18th) bound for Montreal. The aircraft was equipped with 16% of the SAF produced by Total.
According to the ISCC (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification System), the use of biofuel on this flight was responsible for reducing the emission of about 20 tons of CO2.
According to Total CEO Patrick Pouyanné, "the development of biofuels is part of Total's broad energy strategy to decarbonize the transport industry".
In addition, the oil company expects that by 2024 it will have transformed yet another of its refineries into another unit dedicated to the manufacture of SAF.
Pouyanné added: "We continue to adapt our industrial facilities to prepare for the growing demand from the aviation industry in the next decade".
In line with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, airlines have devoted efforts to reduce CO2 emissions, and one of the means to this is the gradual insertion of SAF.
The Green Deal, a set of policies to contain threats to the environment, expects that by 2030 there will be a 5% increase in the use of SAF, while France requires that by 2022 at least 1% of the fuel of all flights that leave country is SAF.
Benjamin Smith, CEO of Air France-KLM, stated that the use of SAF, combined with the renewal of the company's fleet, “constitutes our main medium-term lever to halve our CO2 emissions per passenger per km by 2030. (...) Supporting the emergence of an aviation biofuels sector in France that is economically viable for all parties involved is a strategic priority for the country and the group ”.
Air France KLM is one of the first companies to start using SAF, having made its first biofuel flight in 2009.
Airbus also intends to contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions, which is why the manufacturer is conducting tests so that soon its aircraft can fly only with SAF.
Tango Tsuttie/Unsplash
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Gabriela Ramos
Gabriela is the latest addition to the editorial team of our website, having provided us with her solid background in editing, publishing and photography, and her interest and training in aviation history and historiography. His good taste and common sense and great cleverness and sagacity in the selection of themes and materials greatly enriched our vocabulary and narrative style. Gabriela brought unusual predicates and came to stay, helping to point the way of success of our portal.
   
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