Virgin Atlantic flies 'world's first fossil-fuel free' transatlantic commercial flight
- Reference: 1701200708
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/11/28/virgin_atlantic_flies_worlds_first/
- Source link:
[1]VS100 , aka Flight100, left the UK capital at 1130 GMT and, as of writing, is a little less than half way through its 3,498 mile (5,629km) journey. Fueling both engines of the jet is an 88 percent/12 percent mix of hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids (HEFA) - [2]derived from waste fats like used cooking oil and animal fat - and synthetic aromatic kerosene (SAK) made from dextrose extracted from corn during the production of animal feed.
Shai Weiss, Virgin Atlantic CEO, reckons the flight proves that pure SAF can be used as a drop-in replacement for fossil-derived aviation fuel. SAF currently accounts for less than a tenth of a percent of global jet fuel consumption, and which flight standards limit to a 50 percent blend, Virgin said.
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"There's simply not enough SAF and it's clear that in order to reach production at scale, we need to see significantly more investment. This will only happen when regulatory certainty and price support mechanisms, backed by Government, are in place," Weiss said. "Flight100 proves that if you make it, we'll fly it."
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There aren't any fee-paying passengers on this flight, however: Along with crew, passengers are limited to UK Transport Secretary Mark Harper, Weiss, and Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson.
"I couldn’t be prouder to be onboard Flight100 today alongside the teams at Virgin Atlantic and our partners, which have been working together to set the flight path for the decarbonisation of long-haul aviation," Branson gushed.
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It's believed SAFs could reduce emissions from air travel by [7]up to 80 percent . According to Virgin, its SAF blend being flown today is expected to cut emissions by 70 percent compared to traditional jet fuel.
The International Energy Agency [8]estimates that aviation accounts for approximately two percent of global carbon dioxide emissions; combined with other emissions from air travel, the industry as a whole is believed to be responsible for around [9]five percent of carbon emissions.
[10]Hydrogen fuel and [11]battery -powered air travel is also being proposed and tested, but both are still a long way off mainstream, making SAF the most likely near-term path toward net-zero emissions aviation. Additionally, SAF is designed to be a drop-in replacement for fossil fuels, meaning engines don't need to be modified to use it.
Virgin not the first to an SAF first
Virgin's flight may be the first commercial-sized craft to fly across the Atlantic with both engines using SAF, but it's far from the first SAF milestone as of late.
Earlier this month, private jet manufacturer Gulfstream flew the world's actual first transatlantic flight fueled entirely by SAF with a Gulfstream G600 aircraft that [12]flew from Savannah, Georgia to Farnborough Airport in the UK. Like today's Virgin flight, both engines on the private jet were fueled with HEFA-derived SAF, minus the addition of SAK, which Virgin said "is needed in 100 percent SAF blends to give the fuel the required aromatics for engine function."
[13]Japan Airlines fuels up on hydrogen hype with eye on cleaner skies
[14]NASA and Boeing try to chase the contrail clouds away
[15]All-electric plane makes first flight – while lugging 2 tons of batteries aloft
[16]Boeing takes flight in sustainability battle with carbon data cruncher
According to a [17]fact sheet [PDF] shared with The Register by Virgin Atlantic, other recent SAF milestones have included flights operated by Emirates and United that used SAF in a single engine (with fossil fuel in the others), and the US and UK air forces flying 100 percent SAF in military aircraft.
Swedish regional airline BRA, with aircraft maker ATR and SAF producer Neste, operated a commercial flight on pure SAF [18]in Sweden last year as well. Last week, Emirates flew an Airbus A380 (the largest passenger aircraft in the world) [19]test flight using 100 percent SAF in one of four engines.
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In short, the future of aviation is looking potentially a little bit greener ... once you look past all the energy and fuel needed to build, deliver, and maintain the planes and engines in the first place.
"This is further proof that there are no engine technology barriers to the use of 100 percent SAF," said Simon Burr, director of the engineering, technology and safety group at Rolls-Royce PLC, which made the Trent 1000 engines on the Virgin 787 flying across the Atlantic.
"The flight represents a major milestone for the entire aviation industry in its journey towards net zero carbon emissions," Burr said. ®
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[1] https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/VIR100/history/20231128/1140Z/EGLL/KJFK
[2] https://corporate.virginatlantic.com/global/en/media/press-releases/worlds-first-sustainable-aviation-fuel-flight.html
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/bootnotes&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZWZxFrQvEtNZ7GcdZQSnywAAABc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/bootnotes&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZWZxFrQvEtNZ7GcdZQSnywAAABc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/bootnotes&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZWZxFrQvEtNZ7GcdZQSnywAAABc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/bootnotes&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZWZxFrQvEtNZ7GcdZQSnywAAABc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/17/sustainable_jet_fuel/
[8] https://www.iea.org/energy-system/transport/aviation
[9] https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200218-climate-change-how-to-cut-your-carbon-emissions-when-flying
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2020/09/21/airbus_hydrogen_airliners_concept/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2023/05/18/nasa_electrified_aircraft_propulsion_audit/
[12] https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gulfstream-completes-worlds-first-trans-atlantic-flight-on-100-sustainable-aviation-fuel-301993029.html
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2023/11/16/japan_looking_at_hydrogen_fuelcell/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/31/cutting_contrails_with_saf/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2020/06/02/all_electric_cessna_magnix/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2023/05/18/boeing_sustainability_tool/
[17] https://regmedia.co.uk/2023/11/28/virgin-flight-100-fact-sheet.pdf
[18] https://www.neste.com/releases-and-news/renewable-solutions/first-flight-history-100-sustainable-aviation-fuel-regional-commercial-aircraft
[19] https://www.emirates.com/media-centre/emirates-worlds-first-airline-to-operate-a380-demonstration-flight-with-100-sustainable-aviation-fuel/
[20] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/bootnotes&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZWZxFrQvEtNZ7GcdZQSnywAAABc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[21] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Price support mechanisms
There are potential adverse incentives to this if taxation isn't imposed universally. Planes may be flown with brimmed tanks if entering a country with a higher tax rate and may perform detours to fill up in cheaper locations. Both of these would drastically increase emissions.
Not to dismiss the idea out of hand, just to help you understand the complications.
Re: Price support mechanisms
and it's all designed to keep the poor off the planes.
The rich are sick and tired of the noise and smell coming from the economy class.
What are you saying ?
The truly rich have private jets. They don't come near the poor.
Not by a long shot.
Greenwash
If all the waste cooking oil in the US was used this way it would power 1% of US air travel. The cooking-oil supply is notoriously unregulated with 'recycled' often being adulterated with fresh palm oil.
Every time something is grown for fuel it puts pressure on food-growing and hence land use. In this situation it means more jungle being destroyed and increased food prices, often in countries where food for everyone is already in short supply.
As for the 'hardly any CO2' claim that's bullshit bookkeeping. Burning vegetables still puts C02 into the atmosphere.
Re: Greenwash
"Burning vegetables still puts C02 into the atmosphere."
It puts into the atmosphere the CO2 that was taken out by the growing vegetables. That's a net zero at that level. However transport and processing have to be considered so if they used fossil fuels there's addition of some CO2 as a second order effect. If this is genuine waste then it's not a case of plants being grown for fuel. However destroying forest to grow cash-crops, even where those cash-crops are food, is a concern.
Re: Greenwash
So the veggies grown for nothing?
Imagine being a vegetable doing your thing for the planet and then Virgin Atlantic comes in to ruin your life's work to make more profit.
"There's simply not enough SAF"
Good. We have enough trouble feeding people as it is without diverting more food to fuel the tourist industry.
Build some high-speed railways. God knows you have enough space for them.
Price support mechanisms
There is, shock horror, an alternative - to tax aviation fuels in the same way as other fossil fuels and maybe offer a discount for something greener. I suspect that would be a more urgent incentive.