Finland-headed oil refiner and renewable fuel producer Neste Oyj, and German national air carrier Lufthansa have announced a strengthening of their collaboration regarding the development of renewable solutions for aviation.
As part of the collaboration, Lufthansa will use Neste’s sustainable aviation fuel, blended with fossil jet fuel on flights departing from Frankfurt International Airport (FRA) in Germany. The first batch of sustainable aviation fuel was delivered to Lufthansa earlier this year.
We are very happy to continue our collaboration with Lufthansa, a company that has supported responsible corporate policies for decades and is a pioneer in sustainable aviation fuel testing. Neste and Lufthansa share the same ambition to increase the sustainability of aviation and to offer solutions which help our customers achieve personal goals in reducing their carbon footprint, said Peter Vanacker, President, and CEO of Neste.
Strengthening existing collaboration
Collaboration between Neste and Lufthansa began already in 2011, when Lufthansa successfully tested Neste’s sustainable aviation fuel on a total of 1 187 flights between Frankfurt and Hamburg: Lufthansa was the first airline to test alternative fuel in regular flight operations for about six months as a trial run in the context of the joint project ”BurnFair”.
Aviation has a positive impact on people’s lives and it supports the growth of companies and economies. At the same time, the aviation industry accounts for approximately 3 percent of global man-made carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The aviation industry has already set bold goals to reduce aviation-related emissions and sustainable aviation fuels are seen as an important part of the solution.
SAF capacity coming onstream
According to Neste, its sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is produced from renewable waste and residue raw materials. Over the lifecycle including the impact of logistics, sustainable aviation fuel has up to 80 percent smaller carbon footprint compared to fossil jet fuel.
It is fully compatible with the existing jet engine technology and fuel distribution infrastructure when blended with fossil jet fuel. In the US and Europe, the company’s renewable jet fuel annual capacity is currently 100 000 tonnes. With the Singapore refinery expansion on the way, Neste will have the capacity to produce over 1 million tonnes of renewable jet fuel by 2022.
