Virgin Atlantic Flight Will Run on 100% Sustainable Fuel

In a groundbreaking move toward sustainable aviation, Virgin Atlantic is conducting a transatlantic flight powered by 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). This environmentally friendly fuel is anticipated to have a significantly lower environmental footprint compared to traditional aircraft fuels.

Originating from London Heathrow, this inaugural journey to JFK Airport in New York will witness a Boeing 787, with both its engines fueled by SAF, touch the skies. Virgin Atlantic has clarified that the flight is a purely demonstrative initiative, carrying scientists and media personnel but no fare-paying passengers.

Current guidelines cap the inclusion of SAF in commercial flights at 50%. Special permission from the UK Civil Aviation Authority enabled the launch of this pioneering flight after comprehensive technical assessments, including 100% SAF ground trials on similar engine types.

This trend toward testing 100% SAF is gaining momentum. Recently, Emirates powered one of its Airbus A380 superjumbo engines with SAF, and business jet maker Gulfstream executed the first-ever transatlantic flight using 100% SAF. Military aircraft with large twin engines have been trialed with 100% SAF fuel before on other occasions.

The test flight will consume 70 tons of SAF, primarily derived from waste cooking oils, animal fat, and a small proportion of corn waste used in animal feed production. Virgin Atlantic asserts that the SAF alone will slash the flight’s emissions by 70%. The airline is also incorporating other measures to mitigate environmental impact and boost efficiency, such as operating with a single engine during the taxi phase and carrying only the strictly necessary amount of potable water to reduce weight.

The aviation industry, which is responsible for approximately 2.5% of global carbon emissions, has a challenging transition toward decarbonization. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) believes SAF will be a significant part of the journey toward net-zero emissions by 2050, accounting for up to 65% of emission reduction. SAF, being plant-based, is capable of absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during its lifecycle, so it possesses a lower carbon footprint than fossil fuel-derived jet fuel.

The Aviation Environment Federation’s policy director, Cat Hewitt, criticized the limited scalability of sustainable raw materials and suggested that synthetic fuel made from captured carbon and green hydrogen could be the only truly sustainable option, albeit an expensive and energy-intensive one.

“SAF is not a single thing, but an umbrella term for lots of different ways of making jet fuel. Some of them can reduce aviation’s climate impact, whilst others can be a cure worse than the disease.”

Matteo Mirolo, SAF lead at the European Federation for Transport and Environment, via CNN

Though Virgin Atlantic claims that employing SAF will curtail the aircraft’s emissions by 70%, some skeptics consider this initiative as purely symbolic and doubt whether the specific SAF utilized can noticeably reduce the impact of aviation on our climate. Scaling up SAF production to meet demand is indeed a daunting task, requiring around half of the UK’s agricultural land, according to a report from The Royal Society. However, experts like Graham Hutchings, who led the group that created the report, express that initiatives like Virgin Atlantic’s flight are critical for raising public awareness about sustainable aviation fuel.