Arlanda airport offering 10% biofuel from American used cooking oil, in “symbolic” initiative
Date added: 6 January, 2017
The only form of biofuel that airlines have been able to use, and make credible claims that the fuel is low carbon, is used cooking oil. No other forms of fuel made from biological sources can be produced without negative environmental impacts. Therefore Stockholm’s Arlanda airport has had to turn to American used cooking oil, in its attempt to get jet biofuel for its public relations purposes. Arlanda is now using 10% cooking oil, from SkyNRG and Air BP, in Los Angeles (flown over, presumably?) to be put towards fuel for flights made by Swedavia staff. Swedavia is the Swedish state-owned organization that owns and operates 10 airports in Sweden. The quantities of the new fuel are tiny in relation to all the fuel used at the airport, and are seen as symbolic. But Swedavia, SAS Scandinavian Airlines and other airlines are keen to see more use of biofuel, as they hope this will be considered to be cutting their carbon emissions. However, the costs of any biofuel are high, and it is not commercially viable. The industry is keen to get government subsidies to develop more biofuels, to give the impression the industry is environmentally responsible. Biofuels for aviation are, in reality, a “red herring” achieving very little in terms of carbon, or environmental footprint.
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Stockholm Arlanda Airport introduces biofuel as standard
Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport has begun to mix biofuel with normal jet kerosene in its fuel bunkers as standard procedure.
The first uptake of the new fuel, which contains around 10% biofuel converted from used cooking oil and is produced in Los Angeles, California, was uplifted Jan. 3 by an SAS Scandinavian Airlines Airbus A320neo.
Stockholm Arlanda joins Oslo Gardermoen in offering the more environmentally friendly fuel.
Swedavia, the Swedish state-owned organization that owns and operates 10 airports throughout the country, bought the fuel through the Fly Green Fund, an organization that brings together aviation and biofuel bodies to help encourage the use of the fuel in Nordic nations.
KLM and Braathens Regional Airlines will also be using the new biofuel at Arlanda.
Although the amounts of biofuel being bought currently are small compared to the total quantity of jet fuel uplifted at Arlanda, the Jan. 3 event was “a symbolic and important step” toward encouraging the use of sustainable fuel, Scandinavian Airlines head of media relations Fredrik Henriksson said.
SAS and other airlines are keen to buy more biofuel, Henriksson said, but the availability and considerably higher cost of the greener fuel are currently limiting factors. However, the more demand grows, the more biofuel producers would be encouraged to step up production and the price would fall.
Organizations in Sweden are encouraged to offset the environmental flight costs by investing in the Fly Green Fund, which then buys biofuel. For example, Swedavia bought 450 tonnes, which it calculated was the amount its staff used while flying on business in 2016.
Some of the money invested in the fund will also go toward establishing biofuel production facilities in the Nordic region.
The new mixed fuel is also available at Stockholm Bromma Airport and Åre Östersund Airport.
Alan Dron alandron@adepteditorial.com
http://atwonline.com/eco-aviation/stockholm-arlanda-airport-introduces-biofuel-standard
Swedavi receives green aviation fuel at Stockholm Arlanda Airport
3.1.2017 (Biofuels News)
Swedavi, a state-owned group that owns, operates and develops ten airports across Sweden, has received sustainable aviation fuel at Stockholm Arlanda Airport, which has been supplied by SkyNRG and Air BP.
It marks the start of deliveries of sustainable aviation fuel through the Fly Green Fund and demonstrates Swedavia’s commitment to sustainable aviation.
Fly Green Fund is the first of its kind in the world and enables organisations and individuals in the Nordics to reduce their carbon footprint, by flying on sustainable aviation fuel.
Swedavia joined Fly Green Fund as launching partner two years ago and also became a corporate customer of Fly Green Fund.
Swedavia is the first corporate in the world buying sustainable aviation fuel for all their business flights through Fly Green Fund. “We at Swedavia want to lead the way and help increase the demand for aviation biofuel,” said Lena Wennberg, environment director for Swedavia.
“It is a milestone in many ways for Fly Green Fund and our partners today. By buying sustainable aviation fuel for their staff flights, Swedavia reduces its own carbon footprint and contributes to developing a sustainable future for aviation. Other corporate customers like Löfbergs, Resia and our Swish-customers have contributed as well. We are grateful to everyone that has been part of this. It is a real joint effort and shows that together we can grow the sustainable aviation market in the Nordics. We have set an example for others to follow,” said Maria Fiskerud, managing director for Fly Green Fund.
SkyNRG organised the sustainable aviation fuel deliveries to Arlanda Airport for Fly Green Fund, in which now also SAS, KLM and EFS are partners. The sustainable aviation fuel is produced by biorefinery AltAir Fuels in the US and supplied by SkyNRG and Air BP via the common fuel infrastructure running to and at the airport.
“It is great to see that so much is happening in the Nordics. After founding the Fly Green Fund two years ago and after a lot of ground work, this is a huge result thanks to Swedavia. It is a good example that airports are perfectly positioned to support the development of sustainable aviation fuels,” said Theye Veen, CFO for SkyNRG.
http://biofuels-news.com/display_news/11604/swedavi_receives_green_aviation_fuel_at_stockholm_arlanda_airport/
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See also
The high flown fantasy of aviation biofuels – Blog by Biofuelwatch
September 9, 2016
In a blog, Almuth Ernsting, Co-Director of Biofuelwatch, explains some of the issues with aviation biofuels, and the problems of ICAO hoping aviation can use them to get off the carbon “hook”. The reality is that only a tiny number of flights have been made using biofuels, with the only ones claiming to be genuinely “sustainable” being those derived from used cooking oil. There are various ways of making jet fuels out of biofuel, with the most successful and commercially viable one being HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) or HEFA (Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids). Other processes are based on gasification and Fischer-Tropsch reforming; farnesene which is produced from sugar using GM yeast; and producing fuel from bio-isobutanol. HVO production is relatively straightforward, cheaper than the others, and already happening on a commercial scale. However HVO relies largely for its feedstock on vegetable oil, though tallow and tall oil can also be used. In Europe, HVO production is heavily reliant on palm oil, with its well known environmental /deforestation problems. Airlines have so far been careful to avoid sourcing biofuels from palm oil, fearing bad publicity. Greater aviation biofuel use, from any vegetable oil, is likely to drive up demand and push up the global price of vegetable oils – making land conversion, particularly in the tropics even more lucrative.
https://www.airportwatch.org.uk/2016/09/the-high-flown-fantasy-of-aviation-biofuels-blog-by-biofuelwatch/
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BMI starts a few flights from Karlstad in Sweden using small amounts of biofuel from waste wood products
June 28, 2014
In Sweden, biofuels-powered flights have begun, operated by BMI between Karlstad and Frankfurt and by Nextjet between Karlstad and Stockholm. Karlstad Airport has just become the first airport in Europe to install a fixed storage tank facility for aviation biofuel. There are only tiny amounts of the biofuel available, and it costs 3 – 4 times as much as conventional jet fuel. British Midland Regional is keen to do more flights, using a proportion of biofuel. SkyNRG (Dutch) has teamed up with Statoil Fuel & Retail to establish a climate compensation fund. The fund will initially cover the difference between the cost of normal aviation fuel and biofuel. In the longer term the fund will also support research. “Businesses, the public sector and private individuals can make contributions.” [!?] The fuel would come from wood or wood waste products. The Karlstad region in Sweden has a large pulp and paper industry, with many companies collaborating to form the “Paper Province.”
https://www.airportwatch.org.uk/2014/06/bmi-starts-a-few-flights-from-karlstad-in-sweden-using-small-amounts-of-biofuel-from-waste-wood-products/
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Oslo airport, Statoil and SkyNRG attempting to promote “sustainable” jet fuels from wood residues & wastes
November 21, 2014
Oslo airport is hoping to get regular deliveries of biofuel, so it becomes available much of the time. Avinor, which owns the airport, has signed an agreement with Statoil Aviation. The plan is for Statoil to start delivering biofuel in March 2015, with 2,5 million liters in the first year. Biofuel is only ever used as 50% of the fuel mix in any flight. Currently the only biofuel available comes from used cooking oil. However there are plans to explore the possibility of forest-based large-scale production of aviation bio-fuel. But that is still a long way off, especially for biofuel comparable in price to conventional jet kerosene, the price of which has fallen recently. Aviation biofuel proponents are keen to get both production and use up, to get the price down. Whether biomass comes from forestry work, or wood waste, it is very far from sustainable. The nutrients in wood products need to be returned to the soils in which they grew, to maintain fertility. Biofuels are not carbon neutral, as the presumption that all the carbon emitted on burning is rapidly reabsorbed by vegetation is wrong. Regrowing an equivalent sized tree, and sequestering the carbon, in reality could take decades.
https://www.airportwatch.org.uk/2014/11/oslo-airport-statoil-and-skynrg-attempting-to-promote-sustainable-jet-fuels-from-wood-residues-wastes/
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Posted: Friday, January 6th, 2017. Filed in Biofuels News, Recent News.
