Honeywell Ready to Collaborate with Indian Refiners for Aviation Fuel

by Rohit Vaid (Financial Express) ... US-based Honeywell, which among other areas also operates in aerospace, is open to investing as well as collaborating with oil refiners in India to manufacture sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), country president Ashish Modi told FE.

Sustainable aviation fuel is bio-fuel that is low in sulphur content leading to lesser emissions. Therefore the government is planning to mandate the blending of 1% of SAF with traditional jet fuel by 2025.

This would require around 140 million litre of SAF per year, as per some estimates. For a 5% SAF blend, India would require around 700 million litre of SAF per year.

The need for local production of SAF has gained momentum since International Civil Aviation Oganisation’s (ICAO) Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation would mandate India-based airlines to offset carbon emissions generated from international operations by 2027.

“We strongly believe in sustainable aviation fuel. India has a massive biomass source of feedstock, and ethanol has been hugely successful. Our SAF portfolio includes ethanol to jet (ETJ) processing technology that lets producers convert corn-based, cellulosic, or sugar-based ethanol into SAF,” Modi said.

At present, state-owned Indian Oil Corporation has entered into an agreement with Praj Industries to produce SAF in India.

On its part, Honeywell India believes that more players may start to produce SAF in the country due to the massive demand from the country’s airline sector.

According to Modi, Europe has made a massive move in its blend targets for the airlines to operate, and as India-based airlines operate to Europe, they need to be compliant with their regulations. READ MORE

Excerpt from SAF Magazine/Praj: Hon. Union Minister Shri. Hardeep Singh Puri inaugurated Praj’s sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) demonstration facility at its R&D Center in Pune on Jan. 20. Praj has developed a proprietary technology to process agricultural feedstocks for the production of SAF that can be blended with aviation turbine fuel (ATF).

The hard to abate Aviation Industry is one of the largest consumers of fossil fuels and also an emitter of greenhouse gases (GHG). According to the India Brand Equity Foundation 2023 report, the government has set a target to operationalize 1000 UDAN routes and to revive 100 airports by 2024. Thus, India is the third largest and fastest-growing civil aviation market in the World. The low carbon SAF has a significant role in helping India achieve its net zero goal targets by 2070.

During the inauguration ceremony, Shri. Hardeep Singh Puri, Hon. Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Housing & Urban Affairs said, “This facility demonstrating indigenously developed technology for production of SAF is a testament to India’s rising prowess in the Global Bioeconomy. Utilization of Captive Agri-Resources for the production of Biofuels such as SAF is aligned with the government’s goals towards Atma Nirbhar Bharat and will go a long way in helping India achieve its energy self-reliance by 2047. I compliment the visionary leadership of Dr. Pramod Chaudhari and Team Praj for this exciting development.”

Speaking on the occasion, Pramod Chaudhari, executive chairman, Praj Industries said, “Inauguration of SAF demonstration facility is yet another milestone in Praj’s pursuit of energy transition through Bioeconomy. Recently, we collaborated with IOCL and AirAsia India to successfully fly India’s first commercial passenger flight with 1% SAF produced at our bench scale setup that was blended with ATF. We truly believe in India’s potential to be a hub for supplying SAF for the Global Aviation Industry and we stand committed to helping build SAF production capacities. We thank Hon. Minister Shri. Hardeep Singh Puri ji for his continued guidance and encouragement.”

It may be noted that around 3% of all GHG emissions worldwide are currently attributable to aviation. Unless controlled, otherwise the emissions may zoom to as much as 22% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The International Civil Aviation Organization has pledged to achieve net-zero emissions from the aviation sector by 2050. Harnessing sustainable aviation fuels is regarded as the most promising pathway for helping achieve this target. READ MORE