A major airline has signed a memorandum of understanding for the delivery of 1,000,000 cubic metres of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Total Energies will supply the fuel to Air France-KLM over a 10-year period starting in 2023.

The SAF will be made in biorefineries for a claimed 80% reduction in CO2 emissions over the entire lifecycle, compared with conventional fuels. SAF has historically been mixed with conventional fuels in ever-higher doses, see Engineering Matters episode #113 Food Waste: Making a Net Zero Jet Fuel

SAF produced by Total is derived from waste and residue from other industries, such as animal fats and used cooking oil. The company said it introduced a target to produce 1.5 million tonnes of the fuel by 2030. The 1,000,000 cubic metres represents about 800,000 tonnes.1

Statistics website Statista estimated that global airline fuel useage hit an all time high of 432,000,000 cubic metres in 2019, before falling due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

A spokesperson for Total Energies said, “Air France-KLM Group and Total Energies have been collaborating on the use of sustainable aviation fuel for nearly 10 years. Their partnership began with “Lab Line for the Future” in 2014, a two-year experiment during which 78 flights between Paris-Orly and Toulouse and between Paris and Nice were powered by 10% SAF supplied by Total Energies.”

Over the last two years, TotalEnergies has also supplied SAF for a number of Air France-KLM Group commercial flights:

• In May 2021, Air France’s first long-haul flight, between Paris and Montreal, powered by 16 % SAF produced in France;
• In October 2021, an Air France flight between Paris and Nice powered by 30% SAF;
• In May 2022, an Air France flight operated as part of the SkyTeam Sustainable Flight Challenge, between Paris and Montreal, powered by 16% SAF;
• In June 2022, several flights operated by all of the Air France-KLM Group’s airlines as part of the Connecting Europe Days, powered by 30% SAF.