The scaffolding is entangled with miles of green piping: in its huge refinery in the port of Rotterdam, the Finnish giant Neste is preparing to increase tenfold its production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), the main lever for decarbonizing air transport.
Within a few months, the world’s largest SAF producer will produce 500,000 tons per year of aviation kerosene made from used cooking oil and animal fats from this facility. This process can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 80% over the entire use cycle compared to conventional aviation kerosene, according to the International Air Transport Association (Iata). It is still only “a drop in the ocean, but a significant drop”, the refiner agrees.
Last year, total SAF production worldwide was 250,000 tons, representing less than 0.1% of the more than 300 million tons of kerosene used by aviation. “We’re increasing our production drastically, from 100,000 tons to 1.5 million tons next year” and 2.2 million by 2026, says Neste CEO Matti Lehmus during a press tour.
Because the demand is there. The European Union is preparing to impose gradual obligations on airlines to incorporate SAF in aviation kerosene (2% in 2025, 6% in 2030, at least 63% in 2050). France has already implemented a 1% mandate for all flights departing from its territory since last year. Neste’s production at its Rotterdam and Singapore sites, due to start in April, will enable the company to meet the European mandate for 2025 on its own, assures Jonathan Wood, Neste’s sustainable aviation fuels boss.
But “by 2030, there will be more demand than supply of SAF, hence the interest in securing long-term supplies” for airlines, notes Vincent Etchebehere, Director of Sustainable Development at Air France.
Limited biomass
Last year, Air France-KLM signed an agreement with Neste to supply one million tons of sustainable fuel between 2023 and 2030. The airline group has signed other agreements or protocols over 10 years with the American DG Fuels (600,000 tons) and TotalEnergies (800,000 tons). Such agreements between airlines and FAS providers are on the rise.
At the Neste site in Rotterdam, two huge 15,000 m3 storage tanks that still need to be painted are next to a quay from which ships will transport the fuel to Air France-KLM’s main bases:Schiphol airport or the Paris hubs via pipeline to Le Havre.
The Franco-Dutch group has made a proactive commitment to using sustainable fuels to reduce its carbon footprint: it alone consumed 15% of the world’s SAF production in 2022, which represented 0.6% of its own fuel needs. And it is counting on an incorporation of “10% of SAF in 2030 at the global level, not just from Europe”, as the EU mandate will impose, says the CEO of Air France, Anne Rigail.
At present, only the so-called HEFA process, based on cooking oils and fats, is produced on an industrial scale, but this biomass is limited. Neste estimates it at 40 million tons at most, enough to meet the needs of 2030. “To go beyond that, we need other processes, we need to mature the technologies to go to the next level,” says Matti Lehmus, who mentions algae, wood residues and, in the longer term, synthetic fuels combining hydrogen and CO2.
While the availability of FAS is a key issue, the cost of FAS is just as important,” insists Anne Rigail. Sustainable fuels cost 3,500 euros per ton, but are available at 2,000 dollars in the United States thanks to support mechanisms put in place by Washington. In France, they are invoiced at more than 5,000 euros per ton.
Between the “risks of distortion of competition and the deportation of traffic at the gates of Europe” to Turkish or Gulf airlines, the director of Air France insists: “We need support and we really think that the EU can do more.”
