Sweden's European Flight Service (EFS) has performed its first flight with Biojet fuel. Flying from Oslo Gardermoen in Norway to Trollhättan-Vänersborg in Sweden, its Citation Sovereign burned 700 litres of fuel using a blend of 48 per cent bio and 52 per cent Jet A1 supplied by Air bp. CEO Stephen Diapère says that the CO2 footprint of the mission was reduced by 917 kg compared to a 100 per cent Jet A1 flight. “This is a great step forward for us in our aim to be one of the business aviation pioneers in a fossil free aviation environment of the future,” he states. “What was seen as science fiction only a few years back is now a reality and who would have believed that aircraft can fly using cooking oil?”

EFS has made a concerted effort to reduce emissions over the last few years and is a partner of the Swedish Fly Green Fund, sponsoring the fund to the tune of around $25,000 a year; it is the only business aviation organisation to be a full member. “We have found that the industry is very open-minded and cooperative in environmental matters,” adds Diapère. “We have reached a milestone by completing our inaugural flight using Biojet, and we are able to show other business jet operators what its potential is.

“Right now there are only two places in the world that really make it, and they are both in California. So it comes all the way by tanker from California into Rotterdam, and then makes its way on a new tanker into Scandinavia, so it is not particularly environmentally friendly. It is made from used frying oil, and in the future waste products from the tree industry could be used – there is a lot of that in Scandinavia.”

Price is a stumbling block; at the moment Biojet is four or five times more expensive than regular fuel. “At the moment it is not really attractive to anybody money-wise. So the two objectives are to increase availability and reduce the price. We have a deal to use 25 per cent bio, but only in one wing, and this is approved by Cessna, Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce. People were scared of bacteria growing in the tanks but it seems that this is not a problem.”

The Sovereign pilots noted no difference in performance: “The pilots wrote a report afterwards and they noticed no temperature changes, no differences, so there was nothing to comment on,” Diapère continues. “Business jets are of course working on very low percentage margins, so it is not exactly the first place you think of to invest money in. However, in terms of emissions, there is a gigantic difference. If you use a lot of processes to produce the fuel then you lose efficiency, but at its most efficient there is an 80 per cent reduction in emissions. At the lower end is a 30 per cent reduction. No modifications on the aircraft are required to allow this.

“At the minute you can get it in Oslo and we are working on Gothenburg. Oslo is mixing two per cent in all the fuel. Major fuel companies have to get on the bandwagon too, or they won't be selling fuel anymore.

“People don't tend to know much about Scandinavia, but in my opinion it has survived the economic crisis better than anybody,” Diapère states. “The people are very organised, without being mechanical, and the economies have remained strong. Operators will come on board when they are forced to. Biofuel prices will steadily go down as production increases. Some industries want to offset their carbon footprint, and this is one way to do that.”