Operators fuelling at Avflight Salina recently helped to further business aviation's carbon neutrality goals by flying on Avfuel's sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Flights started fuelling on Friday 18 October and continued through Sunday 20. The effort was in coordination with an industry-wide initiative to meet carbon neutrality goals and part of a broader set of activities happening all week at NBAA-BACE in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In total, Avfuel supplied 7,300 gallons of SAF to the airport with the sustainable product providing two metric tons reduction in the life cycle CO2 emissions. Avfuel, with partner Avflight Salina, fuelled aircraft represented by high-profile OEMs, including Bombardier, Dassault Falcon, Embraer, HondaJet and Cessna Textron, with the sustainable product.

“These demonstration-type days have been key to increasing visibility and understanding on the viability of sustainable aviation fuel,” says alternative fuels manager Keith Sawyer. “We are getting more interest and inquiries on a daily basis from airports, OEMs, FBOs and operators.”

As supply of SAF continues to be the most challenging hurdle to bringing the product to market on a commercial scale, the fuel supplier hopes that raising awareness will help inspire commitments by operators to use the product. By creating the demand, Avfuel's aim is to encourage further production for greater sustainable representation in the fuel supply chain.

“Due to recent global events and viral activity our industry needs to respond with continuous progress on this front,” Sawyer continues. “We appreciate very much the efforts of the aviation coalition members who are diligently working together toward our end goal.”

Avfuel sources its concentrated SAF from Gevo and blends it with petroleum-based jet fuel. This mixture is then tested for fuel quality and to ensure it meets ASTM D1655 standards. The product is said to have a net benefit to the environment across its lifecycle. Created from cornstarch, for every one million gallons of the concentrated SAF that is produced, approximately 10 million pounds of animal feed and protein is sold into the food chain, and the final jet fuel product burns cleaner, reducing carbon emissions released into the atmosphere.