British Airways Taps BP Biofuels to Offset CO2 from Flights between London and COP26

by Cecilia Keating (Business Green) British Airways CEO Sean Doyle argues a ‘global system of Sustainable Aviation Fuels’ can help drive down CO2 from flying ... READ MORE

Excerpt from Reuters: During the global climate summit due to be held in Glasgow later this year, BA said it would buy the equivalent amount of lower-emissions sustainable aviation fuel for its London to Scotland flights.

BA passengers will also have a greater opportunity to offset their carbon footprint by directly paying for sustainable aviation fuel should they wish. READ MORE

Excerpt from Flight Global: “Our commitment has not wavered, even during the pandemic, with the incredible financial strain it has put us on. So far this year IAG became the first European airline group to commit to having 10% of all flights powered by sustainable aviation fuel by 2030; British Airways’ investment in LanzaTech will see SAF arrive on our flights by the end of next year.”

Doyle notes the move to give customers the chance to buy SAF for their flights as well offsetting their carbon emissions is “another opportunity to create awareness”.

He says: ”Offsets are an interim part of the solution. They are something we can access right now, they have a meaningfully positive impact, and they support projects in communities around the world which as well as offsetting carbon are very important for biodiversity.

”In the future we expect offsets to migrate into supporting funding and research into carbon capture technology, but we have more than offsets we are commiting to. New technology is important, sustainable aviation fuel is also realisable in the near-term, because we will be putting SAF on our planes at the end of next year. And we are innovating in new forms of propulsion with out partnerships.”

BA in March invested in hydrogen propulsion developer ZeroAvia, and the following month pledged to power 10% of its flights with SAF by the end of this decade. READ MORE

Excerpt from British Airways/Biobased Diesel Daily: British Airways flight 1476 from London Heathrow to Glasgow Airport became the airline’s first-ever passenger flight to be powered directly by sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), with the remaining emissions produced by the flight offset. The airline teamed up with Heathrow, air traffic service provider NATS, fuel giant BP, Glasgow Airport and Airbus to operate the short carbon-neutral flight, which took place Sept. 14.

The short journey on the airline’s new special liveried sustainability aircraft painted in partnership with Airbus replicated a flight British Airways operated to Edinburgh in 2010. At the time, neither offsetting nor sustainable aviation fuel were available to reduce the flight’s impact on the environment, and the journey was operated on an older aircraft carrying fewer passengers.

The aim of the Sept. 14 flight was to show how far the aviation industry has progressed in its efforts to decarbonize over the past decade.

The flight was directly powered by sustainable aviation fuel, provided by BP, blended at 35 percent with traditional jet fuel in accordance with technical aviation specifications.

This year’s flight achieved a 62 percent CO2 emissions reduction compared with the flight in 2010—34 percent from more efficient aircraft and operations, 28 percent from the use of sustainable aviation fuel with the remaining 38 percent offset using high quality, verified carbon offsets. READ MORE