Focus on Arts and Ecology

September 26, 2024 

China has launched a “sustainable aviation fuel” (SAF) pilot project that will see 12 flights officially burning SAF in its first phase this year, China Civil Aviation News reports.

SAF is liquid fuel made from biological or synthetic feedstocks considered more sustainable than kerosene. It can be made from waste materials such as used cooking oil, food waste or forestry waste. SAF is currently mixed with kerosene, usually at a ratio of no less than half, but there is no technical reason why planes can’t be fully fuelled by it.

Energy Magazine, a WeChat-based analyst of the energy transition, said that SAF is the most economical option for cutting aviation emission, and has the potential to bring down the industry’s emissions by between 70% and close to 100%.

The 12 pilot flights will be operated by Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines and involve airports in Beijing, Chengdu, Zhengzhou, and Ningbo.

The second phase will happen across 2025, with the number of participants increasing. The report did not mention the SAF-to-kerosene ratio of the flights.

China’s first SAF test flight took place in 2011, according to the Civil Aviation Administration. But large-scale commercial use is still a long way off and there remains no top-level policy to develop the sector nor market to promote SAF production. China’s 14th five-year plan for civil aviation for 2021-2025 aims for consumption in 2025 of more than 20,000 tonnes of SAF. This would account for “about 0.2% of annual domestic aviation kerosene consumption,” states the plan.

The accounting firm Deloitte predicted in a 2023 report that China’s SAF demand will reach 3 million tonnes per year by 2030 and 86 million tonnes in 2050.

“The biggest challenge for airlines to use SAF is that its price is still three to five times higher than traditional aviation kerosene,” Xie Xingquan, regional vice president (North Asia) of the International Air Transport Association, told China Business News.

A previous report released by Peking University’s Institute of Energy pointed out that China’s SAF development still needs policy promotion. Han Jun, deputy director of the Civil Aviation Administration said that to achieve “large-scale application, it is necessary to promote various pilot projects and strive to build a SAF development path that conforms to national conditions.”

Read Dialogue Earth’s analysis from last year on SAF development in China.

(Sources: Dialogue Earth)