NESTE PHOTO
A Big Push Aviation represents 11% of the United States’ transporta- tion-related greenhouse gas emissions, according to a Sep. 9, 2021, White House briefing. Of course, those numbers are rising as more and more people and cargo fly. Since last year, HAI has joined the BACSAF’s steering
committee, backed several legislative and White House proposals designed to make SAF more readily available and affordable for the business aviation community, and organized and hosted webinars on the alternative fuel. In HAI’s Sep. 30, 2021, webinar, “Sustainable Aviation Fuel: The OEM Perspective,” experts from Airbus Helicopters, Bell, and Safran discussed the advantages of SAF and answered oper- ators’ questions about it. “It is our collective responsibility to contribute to zero emissions, and SAF is a major contributor to reaching that goal,” said Bruno Even, CEO of Airbus Helicopters, during the webinar. “As of today, 40% of net CO2
emissions could
be avoided by using SAF blends.” It’s clear that industry organizations as well as aircraft and
powerplant manufacturers want operators to get comfortable with and start using sustainable aviation fuel. In September 2021, the Biden administration boosted the
aviation industry’s efforts to develop sustainable aviation fuels when it announced the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge. Te effort outlines a goal to produce at least 3 billion gal.
of SAF per year by 2030. Currently, providers produce just 4.5 million gal. Te Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge also sets a goal of producing enough sustainable aviation fuel to meet 100% of aviation fuel demand—expected to be 35 billion gal. per year—by 2050, according to the Sep. 8, 2021, Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge Memorandum of Understanding.
It’s All Jet Fuel At its core, sustainable aviation fuel is a blend of conventional Jet A/A-1 fuel and a highly processed feedstock, typically cooking oils and grease, plant oils, municipal trash, wood waste from mills, sugarcane and sugar beets, seaweeds and algae, and agricultural waste, among others. Te mixture ends up as kerosene jet fuel. A fast-track approval process helps SAFs that are blended at 10% feedstock with the same types of molecules as exist in petroleum-based jet fuel get to market more quickly, according to the US Department of Energy’s September 2020 report Sustainable Aviation Fuel: Review of Technical Pathways. “Tere are seven approved pathways that have been
authorized so far,” explains Keith Sawyer, manager of alter- native fuels for Avfuel, a global supplier of aviation fuel and services based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. “Each one is blended at a different percentage between 10% and 50%.” All sustainable Jet A/A-1 fuels have undergone rigorous
testing and certification. When blended with petroleum, they are a fully fungible, drop-in fuel, meaning they seamlessly fit into existing aviation infrastructurewithout issue; airports don’t need to store SAFs separately, and fixed-wing and rotorcraft operators can add them to their tanks as they would conventional Jet A/A-1 fuel, commingling at will. “SAF is jet fuel. It meets the technical and certification
requirements for use in turbine-powered aircraft engines,” says Pete Bunce, GAMA’s president and CEO. (For an update on efforts to clean up avgas for piston-powered aircraft, see “Fixing the Avgas Lead Problem,” p. 44.) “Civil aviation authorities and aviation industry stake-
holders, including aircraft OEMs and engine manufacturers, have put in place an exhaustive and thorough process to approve SAF. “Tis drop-in fuel is compatible for use without any needed
WATCH
The 1st Rescue Helicopter to Fly on SAF
SAF is a blend of conventional jet fuel and highly processed raw materials such as cooking oil, grease, and other waste products.
JUNE 2022 ROTOR 43
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