Can UK’s ‘jet zero’ hopes take off with a plane fuelled by used cooking oil?
A Virgin Atlantic flight will set off on Tuesday from London Heathrow for New York, a Boeing 787 shorn of paying passengers but with a payload of scientists, aviation leaders, politicians and media, and powered largely by used cooking oil – or as it is now better known, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The UK government and aviation industry hope the transatlantic journey, funded with GBP1m of taxpayer’s money, will demonstrate that greener flying is possible and its 2050 “jet zero” aspirations are more than hot air. However, is the trip – as claims the transport secretary, Mark Harper, who himself is preparing to strap – a historic moment paving the way to change the future of flight? Or as others argue, a one-off stunt that the airline industry will struggle to emulate – and worse, one that convinces the public they can fly without environmental damage? Undoubtedly, the test flight demonstrates that the dial has turned on what is technically possible: the creation and use of a full tank of alternative fuel, synthesised from captured carbon and recycled oil. According to the producers, the carbon footprint of the flight is about 70% below that of conventional jet fuel, in a “lifecycle” analysis. The aviation industry now believes SAFs are the single biggest tool for bringing net carbon emissions down to zero – in its roadmap to 2050 that still allows for substantial growth in flying. That alarms environmental campaigners, who are sceptical about the merits of the fuels and have expressed disquiet over the language used by the government about the flight. Announcing GBP53m this month to fund nine UK projects to create SAF in different ways, from burning waste to converting CO2 and green hydrogen, the Department for Transport declared it a “milestone marker” ahead of the 100% SAF flight “making guilt-free flying a reality”. Even more hyperbolic – and plain wrong – according to Cait Hewitt, the policy director at the Aviation Environment Federation (AEF), was the assertion that passengers were now a “step closer to flying without CO2 emissions”. Not even the airline would dream of that: a Virgin Atlantic spokesperson confirmed that the CO2 emissions out of the back of the plane on Tuesday would be identical, although it claims the “net” emissions – calculated by the carbon saved in recycling oil – to be 70% less. Story has more.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2023-11-27/general/can-uk2019s-2018jet-zero2019-hopes-take-off-with-a-plane-fuelled-by-used-cooking-oil
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Can UK’s ‘jet zero’ hopes take off with a plane fuelled by used cooking oil?
A Virgin Atlantic flight will set off on Tuesday from London Heathrow for New York, a Boeing 787 shorn of paying passengers but with a payload of scientists, aviation leaders, politicians and media, and powered largely by used cooking oil – or as it is now better known, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The UK government and aviation industry hope the transatlantic journey, funded with GBP1m of taxpayer’s money, will demonstrate that greener flying is possible and its 2050 “jet zero” aspirations are more than hot air. However, is the trip – as claims the transport secretary, Mark Harper, who himself is preparing to strap – a historic moment paving the way to change the future of flight? Or as others argue, a one-off stunt that the airline industry will struggle to emulate – and worse, one that convinces the public they can fly without environmental damage? Undoubtedly, the test flight demonstrates that the dial has turned on what is technically possible: the creation and use of a full tank of alternative fuel, synthesised from captured carbon and recycled oil. According to the producers, the carbon footprint of the flight is about 70% below that of conventional jet fuel, in a “lifecycle” analysis. The aviation industry now believes SAFs are the single biggest tool for bringing net carbon emissions down to zero – in its roadmap to 2050 that still allows for substantial growth in flying. That alarms environmental campaigners, who are sceptical about the merits of the fuels and have expressed disquiet over the language used by the government about the flight. Announcing GBP53m this month to fund nine UK projects to create SAF in different ways, from burning waste to converting CO2 and green hydrogen, the Department for Transport declared it a “milestone marker” ahead of the 100% SAF flight “making guilt-free flying a reality”. Even more hyperbolic – and plain wrong – according to Cait Hewitt, the policy director at the Aviation Environment Federation (AEF), was the assertion that passengers were now a “step closer to flying without CO2 emissions”. Not even the airline would dream of that: a Virgin Atlantic spokesperson confirmed that the CO2 emissions out of the back of the plane on Tuesday would be identical, although it claims the “net” emissions – calculated by the carbon saved in recycling oil – to be 70% less. Story has more.<br/>
