The Government of Costa Rica and the Netherlands national airline KLM have joined forces to combat carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Over the coming months, they will research the possibilities of flying from San Jose using bio-based jet fuel.
On October 31, KLM and the Government of Costa Rica signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to ratify the cooperation. According to a statement, this is the first time in the world that an airline has entered into an agreement of this kind with a country.
For Costa Rica, a country seeking to achieve carbon neutrality, it is very important to be the destination of KLM’s first flight. The company is concerned about the environment and is a worldwide example in the use of biofuels. Thank you for taking the lead and for showing other companies around the world that you can change customs for good of the planet, said Edgar Gutierrez Espeleta, Costa Rican Minister of Environment and Energy.
In the months to come, KLM will share its knowledge and expertise with the Costa Rican government in close cooperation with its partner SkyNRG. In 2009, KLM operated its first flight using biofuel, with observers on board.
In 2010, KLM became the world’s first airline to operate a commercial flight using sustainable biofuel. But, soon after in 2010, the first commercial flight followed. KLM has operated more than a thousand flights using bio-based jet fuel to such places as Paris, Rio de Janeiro and from New York, and Oslo.
80 percent reduction
KLM founded SkyNRG and initiated the KLM Corporate BioFuel Programme to stimulate the demand for sustainable biofuel. With the help of this cooperative effort, KLM has been operating all of its flights from Los Angeles (LAX) in the US partially with sustainable biofuel since 2012. It is currently the only European airline operating intercontinental flights using biofuel.
By using sustainable biofuel, KLM says that it can reduce its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by as much as 80 percent compared to fossil fuels. The market for sustainable aviation biofuel, however, is far from mature, so the price is still three times higher than that of fossil fuel. KLM is currently using sustainable biofuel made from used cooking oil (UCO).
This cooperative effort is a new step in making civil aviation more sustainable. The greater the production – and, therefore, the greater the supply of biofuels – the lower the price will be and the more businesses will use it. KLM and Costa Rica are taking the lead, now. It would be great if other airlines, governments, and the entire biofuel supply chain took such steps, said René de Groot, CEO of KLM.
