Avfuel delivers first Sustainable Aviation Fuel shipment to Bombardier in Canada

Avfuel is providing Bombardier with an inaugural shipment of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to support the company’s long-standing commitment toward the environment. This aligns with Avfuel’s ongoing efforts to work with leading original equipment manufacturers on sustainability efforts.

In total, Avfuel supplied 7 300 (US) gallons (≈ 27 600 litres) of SAF to Bombardier to fuel its new customer aircraft deliveries. Avfuel sources concentrated SAF from Gevo, Inc., and blends it with petroleum-based jet fuel. This mixture is then tested for fuel quality and to ensure it meets ASTM D1655 standards. The product has a net benefit to the environment across its lifecycle.

Working with leading OEMs, like Bombardier, is an opportunity for Avfuel and business aviation as a whole to meet sustainability goals. We are appreciative of the Bombardier team for its willingness to participate in this initiative, for its professionalism in working with Avfuel on the logistics, and for the work that it is doing on green initiatives, said C.R. Sincock, Executive Vice President for Avfuel.

According to Bombardier, the shipment is a first step in the company’s plan to secure long-term partnerships with fuel suppliers to deploy SAF to all of its facilities as worldwide supply becomes more readily available.

We stand behind our commitment to help promote the increased use of SAF throughout the industry. Today, we are proud to offer it for the first time at one of our Canadian facilities and it’s only the beginning. Bombardier is working toward ensuring that the use of these fuels becomes a standard in our day-to-day operations as we do our part to reduce CO2 emissions worldwide and meet the longstanding industry climate pledge, said David Coleal, President, Bombardier Aviation.

Aggressive decarbonization program

In 2009, the business aviation community developed an aggressive program in support of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) targets and committed to contributing to the overall aviation goals. To this end, it committed to specific targets which include carbon-neutral growth by 2020; an improvement in fuel efficiency by 2 percent per year from 2010 until 2020; and a reduction in total carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of 50 percent by 2050 relative to 2005.

Bombardier plays a leading role in the industry-wide commitment to tackling climate change, and in collaboration with organizations across the industry. The company has actively participated in industry events promoting the use of SAF as a regular part of flying business aircraft, notably in Van Nuys Airport (VNY), California (CA), and TAG Farnborough Airport, UK, and most recently at the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) show in Las Vegas, Nevada (NV) where SAF was available not just for flying in, but also on-site at the static display for aircraft to fly home.

Since 2017, Bombardier has leveraged a supply of SAF for use during demonstration flights at its Hartford, Connecticut (CT), facility, home to the company’s customer demonstration operations. In addition, Bombardier flies its entire fleet of demonstration aircraft into major airshows and events to raise industry awareness and to demonstrate that SAF can become a mainstream, drop-in alternative to traditional jet fuel for general aviation aircraft.

At Bombardier, we build our aircraft with the future in mind. For example, the new Rolls-Royce Pearl 15 engine, purpose-built for the Global 5500 and Global 6500 business jets, makes the aircraft cleaner and more efficient, with an up to 13-per-cent fuel burn advantage, contributing to highly favorable operating costs. The GE Passport engine, designed specifically for the award-winning Global 7500 aircraft, powers it to speeds of up to Mach 0.925 with dependable reliability and greater fuel efficiency, ended David Coleal.