Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) are a cleaner substitute for fossil jet fuels. SAF can be zero-carbon, if renewable electricity is used in the production process. Already today, SAF are compatible with current aircraft and can be blended with kerosene up to 50% using existing engines and the existing fuel supply chain at the airport. They comply strictly with fuel specifications through certification. SAF also improve air quality as they reduce direct emissions: particulate matter by up to 90% and sulphur by 100%, compared to conventional jet fuel. This makes SAF an asset to also address the challenges of non-CO2 emissions.

SAF fall into two categories: biofuels or synthetic fuels. Biofuels are produced from biomass, (e.g. plants and wood products) or residues (e.g. used oils and waste). The latter are more sustainable and address the ethical concern of competition within the food chain of local populations (e.g. crops). “Conventional” Synthetic fuels – also called electrofuels, efuels or power-to-liquid (PtL) – are produced from two basic ingredients: carbon dioxide and water, but require large amounts of electricity.

Synthec Fuels has redefined the approach to a waste-to-liquid (WtL) approach – combining the best of both worlds. Synthec Fuels processes are certified and economic. Our “drop-in”-solution “Synthec-Jet-A” can be blended with regular kerosene @ 50% already today.

From 100.000 metric tons of mixed waste Synthec Fuels can produce about 26.4 Mio. litres of emission free sustainable kerosene – enough for a Boeing 787-8 to fly 338 times the distance from New York JFK to Cape Town South Africa and back to New York with significantly reduced emissions and 50% CO2-neutral – accounting for a reduction of CO2-emissions of up to 66.792 metric tons.

Carbon Mitigation

International Air Transport Association expects SAF to have biggest impact on its net zero plan
(Values in %) Source: IATA

Emirates demonstrates the use of 100% SAF
Adel Al Redha, chief operating officer, Emirates Airline said: “This flight is a milestone moment for Emirates and a positive step for our industry as we work collectively to address one of our biggest challenges – reducing our carbon footprint. It has been a long journey to finally see this demonstration 100% SAF flight take off. Emirates is the first passenger airline in the world to operate a Boeing 777 powering a GE engine with 100% SAF. Such initiatives are critical contributors to industry knowledge on SAF, and provide data to demonstrate the use of higher blends of SAF for future regulatory approvals. We hope that landmark demonstrations flights like this one, will help open the door to scale up the SAF supply chain and make it more available and accessible across geographies, and most importantly, affordable for broader industry adoption in the future.”