BP and Neste to ramp up supply of aviation biofuel to European airports
Decision comes in response to rising demand for sustainable aviation fuel in Europe, according to the two firms
BP's aviation arm and biofuels specialist Neste have inked a deal to ramp up their supply of sustainable aviation fuel to several European airports over the next 18 months, in move they claim comes in response to rising demand from airlines for greener jet fuel.
The two firms have together been supplying sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to selected airports in Europe since last year, but have now agreed to increase their supply five-fold in 2020 and 2021, with deliveries to Stockholm (ARN) and Oslo (OSL) expected to begin in the coming weeks.
The fuel will be supplied by a partnership between Air bp, an aviation fuel products and services supplier, and Neste, the world's largest producer of sustainable aviation fuels. A deal between the firms will see them offer their airport customers a five-times greater volume of the fuel in 2020 and 2021 compared to 2019.
The world's largest producer of aviation biofuels, Neste claims that its SAF, which is produced from a blend of renewable waste and residue raw materials, holds the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from flight by up to 80 per cent compared to conventional jet fuel.
The two firms said the decision to up their supply of sustainable aviation fuel came in response to rising demand from existing and new airline customers, as well as from Norway, where there is a mandate requiring 0.5 per cent of all jet fuel sold to be bio-based.
Thorsten Lange, executive vice president for renewable aviation at Neste, said the firm planned to increase its annual sustainable aviation fuel production capacity from 100,000 tons today to around 1.5m tons by 2023 by expanding its refineries in Singapore and Rotterdam.
"The use of sustainable aviation fuel will play a significant role in the industry's ongoing efforts in making air transportation fit for the climate and environmental challenges it is facing," said Lange.
There have been growing efforts to blend renewable biofuels with conventional jet fuels in order to curb emissions from flight, with Virgin Atlantic having successfully completed the first ever transatlantic flight.
The battle to place the aviation industry on a sustainable course remains one of the biggest challenges of the climate crisis. The sector's emissions in Europe increased by 26 per cent over the past five years, making solutions such as sustainable aviation fuel critical if progress is to be made towards the world's net-zero goals. Estimates suggest sustainable aviation fuels could reduce the industry's greenhouse gas emissions by 32 per cent by 2050.
Air BP's CEO Martin Thomsen said: "Air bp aims to support our customers and the wider aviation industry on their path to meet their low carbon goals,. Through our successful ongoing collaboration with Neste, we are pleased to be able to offer our customers a substantially increased volume of SAF as they work towards reducing their emissions."
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