Qantas agrees second green fuel deal for Californian flights

Qantas flights from LA and San Francisco will soon use sustainable aviation fuel partly derived from waste almond orchards and other scrap agricultural products. On Tuesday, the business agreed a deal to buy almost 20m tonnes of the product from US biofuels company Aemetis, for use from 2025. It comes months after the Flying Kangaroo signed a separate deal with BP to purchase 10m litres of SAF to use on its flights from London. SAF produces up to 80% fewer emissions than traditional jet kerosene and is compatible with Qantas’ existing aircraft. The sustainable fuel for its US flights will be blended 40/60 with regular fuel and be produced at Aemetis’ 125-acre plant currently under development in Riverbank, California. It will lower emissions on flights out of San Francisco by 8%, and save 15,000 tonnes of carbon per year. Qantas CE Alan Joyce used the announcement to criticise the lack of investment in creating these fuels in Australia. “At the moment we can only buy sustainable fuels offshore,” said Joyce. “The US, UK and Europe have industries that have developed with a lot of government support because this is a new field and the long term benefits for those countries are obvious. Qantas has already committed $50m to support the development of a SAF industry in Australia, and we’d be its biggest customer. As well as the environmental and economic benefits, a local SAF industry would reduce the nation’s dependence on imported fuels. For now, SAF is more expensive than traditional fossil fuels but with the right investment it could grow to a scale where the cost is on par.”<br/>