Finland-headed oil refiner and renewable products producer Neste Oyj and ITOCHU Corporation (ITOCHU), one of Japan’s largest "sogo shosha" general trading companies, are celebrating the first delivery of Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel to Etihad Airways, one of the airlines of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in Japan.
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This milestone is a result of the recently expanded partnership between Neste and ITOCHU to grow the availability of sustainable aviation fuel in Japan.
This delivery of our Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel to Etihad is a major step forward in further growing the use of our sustainable aviation fuel in the Japanese market, said Sami Jauhiainen, Neste’s VP of Asia-Pacific, Renewable Aviation.
The SAF will be delivered to Etihad’s aircraft at Narita International Airport (NRT).
Etihad has committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and reducing our 2019 emissions by 50 percent by 2035. For SAF to become a viable mid-term solution for aviation decarbonization it requires collaboration between governments, corporates, and the aviation industry to increase SAF supply and availability at airports, so it can be adapted more broadly, said Tony Douglas, Group CEO at Etihad Aviation Group.
ITOCHU acts as the branded distributor of Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel in Japan, making Neste’s SAF available first at the two largest Japanese international airports – Tokyo’s Haneda (HND) and Narita (NRT) airports.
Our partnership with ITOCHU aims to support domestic and international airlines as well as other fuel suppliers at Haneda and Narita International Airports in accelerating the adoption of SAF to reduce the carbon emissions of flying. I’m excited to see this partnership is already achieving concrete results and I look forward to supporting more airlines in Japan going forward, Sami Jauhiainen said.
SAF is a key element to achieving aviation’s emission reduction goals, and both Neste and ITOCHU are committed to supporting Japan in achieving the target of 10 percent SAF use by 2030, set by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT).
Our partnership with ITOCHU and Neste is an example of the type of industry collaboration that is required to bring widespread SAF adoption to the industry. We are extremely proud to be the first international airline to procure and use Japanese supplied SAF on flights departing Japan, Tony Douglas said.
Expanding SAF production
Neste is committed to working together with the global aviation industry to achieve its emission reduction targets. Neste is currently expanding its SAF production capacity to 1.5 million tonnes per annum by the end of 2023.
That includes up to 1 million tonnes of SAF production capacity in Neste’s Singapore refinery via the ongoing Neste Singapore Expansion Project, which will start operations by the end of the first quarter of 2023.
According to Neste, its “Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel” is an immediate solution for reducing the direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of flying.
It can reduce GHG emissions by up to 80 percent, in its neat form, and over the life cycle, compared to fossil jet fuel as calculated with established life cycle assessment (LCA) methodologies, such as Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) methodology.
Made from sustainably sourced, 100 percent renewable waste and residue raw materials. it is a drop-in fuel that can be used with existing aircraft engines and airport fuel infrastructure, requiring no extra investment to them.
This delivery of SAF to Etihad Airways is the result of the partnership with Neste, and we are glad to be the first company to supply SAF to an overseas airline in Japan. ITOCHU will continue to cooperate with Neste and airlines departing from Japanese airports, and contribute to the decarbonization of the airline industry through the stable supply of SAF, said Tsuyoshi Matsumoto, ITOCHU’s General Manager of the Petroleum Trading Department.
