Air France-KLM is to buy 800 000 tons of non-fossil Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) over ten years from TotalEnergies to meet its environmental objectives. The two companies signed on Monday a memorandum of understanding for this, starting in 2023.

The fuel will be produced by TotalEnergies in its biorefineries and made available to Air France-KLM Group airlines, mainly for flights departing from France and the Netherlands.

Decarbonizing its flights

For the airline group, the order is in addition to contracts already signed with several suppliers, including the Finnish company Neste and the American DG Fuels, for 1,6 million tons SAF. This represents a third of its need to achieve its objective of incorporating 10% of these fewer polluting fuels in its aircraft by 2030.

Air France-KLM is aiming for a 30% reduction in CO2 emissions per passenger kilometer in 2030 compared to 2019.

More expensive

Aircraft engines are certified to run on blends containing up to 50% SAF, but they are three to four times more expensive than fossil fuel. The key to lowering prices is to create large-scale production chains.

Air France-KLM has implemented a strict procurement policy and aims only to purchase SAF fuels that do not compete with human or animal food, are certified for sustainability and do not come from palm oil.

Less polluting

Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs) are made from 100% renewable waste and residue raw materials, like used cooking oil. They reduce CO2 emissions throughout their life cycle by at least 80% on average compared to conventional fossil aviation fuel.

The SAFs developed by TotalEnergies are biofuels produced from waste and residues from the circular economy (animal fats, used cooking oils, etc.) and “e-jets”, synthetic fuels for aviation. The group aims to produce 1,5 million tons by 2030.

Still in infancy

The air transport sector is responsible for around 2,5% of CO2 emissions worldwide. It must radically transform itself because, if nothing is done, it will account for 9% of CO2 emissions by 2050.

Members of the International Air Transport Association (Iata) and States at the UN level have committed themselves to zero net emissions of CO2 from air transport in 2050, mainly thanks to SAF. The production of SAF is currently in its infancy: Iata wants to achieve 30 billion liters available in 2030, compared with 125 million in 2021.

Last week, it was announced that Ryanair struck a deal with Shell to supply 360 000 tons of SAF.