Air Transat, a business unit of Canada-headed integrated international tourism company Transat A.T. Inc., and compatriot power-to-liquids (PtL) developer SAF + Consortium Inc., (SAF+) have announced the signing of the country's first sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) offtake agreement.
According to a statement, this is an historical moment for the Canadian aviation industry since for the first time, a Canadian commercial airline has agreed to work hand in hand with a clean fuel developer in reducing its environmental footprint and is an important part of Air Transat’s strategy to meet aviation’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions targets.
We are committed to offering our clients a low carbon footprint travelling experience while achieving our environmental obligations, said Jean-François Lemay, President of Air Transat.
Air Transat has committed to buying a “significant portion” of the future SAF production which SAF+ will be producing.
We are glad to work with the environmental team at Air Transat; It takes people with a vision to buy into this project, and Air Transat believed in it from day one and never stopped supporting this amazing endeavour, said Jean Paquin, President and CEO of SAF+ Consortium.
SAF+ Consortium, which partners include CCG, Air Transat, Aéroports de Montréal, Parachem, École Polytechnique de Montréal, CIRAIG, CEPROCQ and Valorisation Carbone Québec Project, is finalizing the fabrication of a pilot plant in Montreal East to make kerosene from carbon dioxide (CO2).
The demand for SAF in the aviation sector will almost double annually for the next 30 years. So, solutions such as the production of SAF in Montreal will put Quebec-Canada on the map while providing great jobs for the future, said Alexandru Iordan, Chief Technical Officer of SAF + Consortium.
The process consists in capturing CO2 produced from large industrial emitters and converting it to synthetic jet fuel using the Fisher-Tropsch (FT) process. It is estimated that SAF+ kerosene will have an 80 percent lower carbon footprint than conventional jet fuel.
Capturing CO2 which would have otherwise been released in the atmosphere and give it a second use only makes sense. Not only do you reduce your footprint, but you also achieve a substantial reduction of GHG, helping Quebec and Canada meet its climate change objectives, said Keith Lawless, Senior Director, Environment, ETS, and Strategic Projects at Air Transat.
