On Sustainable Aviation Fuel and Synthetic Petrol – Flight to sustainability

Source: This post on Sustainable Aviation Fuel and Synthetic Petrol has been created based on the article “Flight to sustainability” published in “Business Standard” on 6^th December 2023.

UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 3 Environment – Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation.

News: The article discusses the utility as well as challenges in transitioning to cleaner fuels such as sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and synthetic petrol.

Recently, a commercial Boeing 787 made a London-New York flight using 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

What is SAF?

Sustainable Aviation Fuel is produced by taking biomass such as used cooking oil, waste animal fat, manure and sewage, and broken or spoiled maize, foodgrains, rice and waste wood, and rendering these into synthetic jet fuel substitutes.

What are the benefits of SAF?

1 Emission Reduction: About 65% SAF fuel-mix can meet the emission targets of 2050.

2 Reduce the Carbon Footprint of Aviation Industry: Currently, civil aviation contributes 10-12% of transport-related greenhouse gas emission. Across the entire supply chain of aircraft manufacture, the footprint is much more.

3 Negative Carbon Footprint: This is due to:
a. Carbon Dioxide Capture: Some SAF processes capture carbon dioxide from the air.
b. Utilises Methane: Some versions of SAF reduce free methane (found in manure and sewage).

4 Compensate for Future Emissions: Widespread use of SAF would address the carbon impact of modifying or replacing jet engines of fleets.

5 Waste Recycling: It could also have other beneficial effects like waste recycling (biowaste).

How is the government of India promoting SAF?

Government has approved the initial indicative blending percentages of SAF in Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF):

1. 1% SAF indicative blending target in 2027 (Initially for International flights).
2. 2% SAF blending target in 2028 (Initially for International flights).

What are the roadblocks in its adoption?

High Cost: However, it is at least three times as expensive as jet fuel and,

Low Adoption: At the moment, SAF contributes less than 1% to the aviation fuel mix.

What is Synthetic Petrol?

Synthetic petrol, also known as synfuel, is a liquid or gaseous fuel that can be obtained from syngas. Syngas is a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Syngas is derived from the gasification of biomass or coal, or from natural gas.

What are the issues with Synthetic Petrol adoption?

High Cost: Synthetic petrol costs about 5 times mining and refining crude oil.

Carbon Footprint of Transitioning: Replacing billions of internal combustion vehicles with electrical propulsion would have a large carbon footprint.

What should be done for greater adoption of SAF and Synfuel?

Scaling up Production: The technology and engineering challenges can be met if production is scaled up and engineering processes improve.

Policy Support: It will be needed for research into better capture and collection of biomass and atmospheric carbon.

Subsidies: Subsidies could also play a role in the early adoption of synthetic fuel.

Question for practice:

Decarbonising the transport sector is crucial to achieve climate goals. In this regard, critically analyse the importance of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and synthetic petrol.