How Has Covid-19 Impacted the Future of Fuel?

(Business Airport International) The impact of Covid-19 on the fuel market has been pronounced, but the virus could also spur a move to more sustainable sources of fuel. ... Avfuel has experienced interest in the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) from business aviation operators, airports and maintenance stakeholders during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many companies may be using the pause to evaluate how to incorporate their operations and CO2 emissions into their sustainability platform and reporting metrics. In Europe this is being driven by the implementation of CORSIA and the role that sustainable aviation fuel can play in reducing CO2 emissions along with other market-based measures, such as purchasing carbon offsets.

However, Sincock (C.R. Sincock II, executive vice president of Avfuel) again points to commercial airline’s role in the aviation fuel market’s future: “The uptake of SAF by these carriers may be delayed until their balance sheets improve. Since they account for a large portion of global jet fuel demand, this could slow SAF adoption.

“Business aviation accounts for approximately 5% of global jet fuel demand. SAF can be adopted by business aviation operators as they face pressure to adopt sustainability metrics to reduce their CO2 emissions.

“The sector can play a role in leading SAF uptake forward. There is also the option of purchasing carbon credits to offset emissions from their flights. At Avfuel, we approach sustainability by bringing these two offerings to the table and deploying them in the appropriate situations for our customers.”

An indication that in longer term the deployment of SAF will not be harmed by Covid-19 is the continued launch of projects to build production plants for sustainable aviation fuel. Two new plants were launched during the last few months. The Velocys plant being built in the UK is one of several next generation facilities that will produce SAF suitable for use in business jets and larger turboprops. British Airways is a partner in Velocys, so its focus to date has been on commercial aviation. However, Neville Hargreaves, vice president of waste to fuels at Velocys agrees that business aviation could become an early adopter of SAF.

“Business aviation could be a valuable enabler in the development of the SAF industry. The key will be whether the contract requirements of producers and distributors and customers can be aligned. New fuel plants will need stable, committed offtake in order to finance their projects.”

Hargreaves also believes the Covid-19 pandemic will not impact the roll out of SAF. “The industry will restart and with it the momentum for cleaner skies experienced of late. SAF has a critical role to play in this recovery, which needs to be green if we are to achieve net zero goals.

Meanwhile in the USA, Lanzajet, a subsidiary of sustainable New Zealand-based fuel developer Lanzatech, has announced the construction of a demonstration SAF plant in Georgia that will be operational by early 2022. The demonstration plant is being backed by investors who have earmarked funds to follow it with the construction of commercial-scale plants, building up to a production capacity of 100 million gallons of predominantly SAF by 2025. The company expects to break ground on the first demo plant at the end of this year.

Jimmy Samartzis, CEO of Lanzajet says, “The mechanism we are using to commercialize the technology represents a significant investment. We have worked with aircraft manufacturers and our drop-in SAF was approved by the ASTM in 2018, so its ready for the market.

“For aviation of any kind to continue to see the success it expects around the globe, SAF will be a key component.” READ MORE