The aviation sector demands a framework from the Administration to accelerate its decarbonization

The airline sector is at a turning point to take the leap and become sustainable. All its members have joined forces and are committed to a single goal: achieve net zero emissions by 2050. It is now responsible for 2% of global emissions.

To achieve this, they are promoting innovation and the development of different technologies, such as electricity or hydrogen. But until these arrive, and as a solution that is already available at this time, they are clearly committed to sustainable aviation fuels, SAF (sustainable aviation fuel, for its acronym in English).

But to make this trip they demand clear and determined support from the Administration. This has to be in the form of a regulatory framework and accompanying funding. Something that, at the moment, they miss in Spain. Its absence can be substantiated in a loss of competitiveness and in a serious condition for sectors as important to the national economy as tourism or logistics, among others.

This has been the framework of ideas on which the debate has been generated in the round table Circular economy and decarbonization: the great journey of air transport, organized by CincoDías in collaboration with bp.

The starting point has been established by Ana Salazar, head of Aena’s sustainability division: “The main challenge of decarbonisation in the aviation sector is to make the new energy models compatible with the characteristics that an aircraft must have. This has to be light and meet certain conditions in terms of the capacity of the deposits”.

Aviation is currently responsible for 2% of total global emissions

This is the reason why this challenge is presented as complicated. Technological solutions such as electricity or hydrogen are still green and we will have to wait a few years to see them in aircraft.

Salazar proposes at this point the solution of sustainable fuel for aviation “as the only possible one that is outlined in the short term.” However, this is facing what the head of Aena calls “like a vicious circle in which there is no SAF because there is no demand and there is no demand because there is no SAF”.

To solve this issue, two things would have to be done: “Scaling up this market and developing production” (now it only represents 0.1% of the fuel used), and “reducing the difference in price compared to conventional fuel” (it costs between three and four times more), argues Carolina Herrero, director of communication and institutional relations of the Airline Association (ALA).

Both trust that the recent package of measures approved by the European Commission encourages its use. This contemplates tax exemptions and mandatory percentages of its use, 2% by 2025, 5% in 2030 and 63% in 2050.

Legal framework

Everything comes together “in betting on this element,” says Inmaculada Gómez, an environmental expert at Senasa (Services and Studies for Air Navigation and Aeronautical Safety). “We have to start with this solution that we have on the table. It is very good and allows us many combinations. There are many technologies and raw materials to make these fuels”, he adds.

The SAF represents only 0.1% of the fuel and is worth four times more than the normal

Valerio Ferro, vice president of sales and marketing at Air bp, mentions the advantage that solves the problem that Salazar raised at the beginning. “Sustainable fuel makes it possible to use existing infrastructure. It can be mixed with normal fuels and put into an aircraft engine in a totally safe way”.

To fix the problem of low demand and low production of this fuel, Ferro proposes “a regulatory framework with incentives and competition” to encourage its use. Building “a predictable, long-term and competitive regulatory framework well can bring investment” to Spain. Here Ferro identifies a great opportunity. “It is a practically nascent market. There is an opportunity to lead it, generate employment, wealth and turn Spain into a benchmark in sustainable energy”.

is not a priority

Taking advantage of this opportunity and leading this market requires political support and strong investment. And it is here where the sector is critical of the Executive’s attitude. “The Government has considered the decarbonization of other modes of transport a priority and has left air transport out of the major initiatives,” laments Salazar. “The Administration must accompany us, get much more involved, and must encourage those solutions that we already have, such as the production of SAF,” adds Herrero.

Proof of this oversight is that “we miss the flow of investment from the Next Generation funds,” Salazar points out, and the “generic and unspecified” mention in the General State Budget of 2022 about the commitment to alternative fuels for aviation and for the sea”, points out Herrero.

Salazar laments that “the air transport sector has been considered lost, it has been considered a dirty sector”, and draws attention “to the critical moment that aviation is experiencing” and the impact that this neglect can have on tourism, an industry that accounts for 12.4% of Spanish GDP.

The Single European Sky could reduce CO2 emissions by 11%

Gómez also recalls that four out of every five tourists who visit us arrive by plane, and wonders “if those future visitors are going to want to fly to Spain if we don’t have decarbonization mechanisms in place.”

For this reason, Ferro sees in tourism an opportunity to promote these fuels. “Sustainable tourism, greener tourism”, and launches the idea of “decarbonizing a green corridor by uniting, for example, Germany with the Balearic Islands” with a small effort that can generate differentiation.

strong investment

At bp they calculate the cost of building a SAF plant at around 700 million dollars and that between 700 and 800 of these factories will be needed to decarbonise aviation. That is where Ferro sees an opportunity for Spain. “With the correct regulatory framework, these investments can be undertaken. It is necessary to remove risks and put an incentive, a subsidy so that the accounts come out and that it is more profitable to put the plant here than in another country”.

This is a danger that Senasa warns about: “Some countries have gotten ahead of Spain with these incentives. Investments are taken there and ¬leads to some airlines using their airports more”. Salazar summarizes this issue clearly: “In other countries, the funds dedicated to aviation are materializing more quickly. This makes us lose competitiveness and could be a problem”.

other instruments

There are other simpler and faster instruments to decarbonise the aviation sector. One of them is the Single European Sky. “It has been announced and committed to for more than 20 years by the EU. But it is paralyzed or blocked by political decisions of some States”, summarizes Herrero. Airplanes don’t fly in a straight line. They do it in a zigzag to avoid invisible borders. This means consuming more fuel and polluting more. “Having it could mean a reduction of 11% of CO ₂ “.

The Corsia plan brings together airlines from more than 100 countries to pollute less

From ALA they mention the work they are doing to offset their polluting emissions with economic measures such as the Compensation and Carbon Reduction Plan for International Aviation (Corsia), agreed by the United Nations and which has been launched this year. More than 100 countries, including the EU, are committed to it, representing 85% of global emissions.

These two initiatives serve to remind us, as Gómez explains, that “energy efficiency is the tool to fix half of the problems of this decarbonization”. For this reason, he encourages “not to neglect issues such as engine research, greater digitization in operations or collaboration in the airport environment”.

Looking at the future

In this journey towards decarbonisation over a time horizon of ten years, two conclusions can be observed: the use of SAF will be the majority, but other solutions will have to be found. “There will be a very important part of SAF because today it is the existing solution, but we are considering others, such as electricity, hydrogen or operational improvements,” they observe in ALA.

At Aena they think that “transport will be clean and decarbonisation will materialize in a mix of energies. Mostly SAF will be used, but we will have the first short-haul electric planes, and even some electric ones with a hydrogen battery”.

In bp and Senasa they do not see these technologies as close and are betting that there will be “more and better SAF” and for a greener production of this “with renewable hydrogen that makes it cheaper and with greater reduction of emissions”.

Ferro sees in this decarbonization and energy transition “an opportunity for the development of Spain and for it to become a benchmark”.

OIL FROM FRIED EGGS, TIRES OR SEAWEED, A GOOD RAW MATERIAL

Different paths. Up to eight technological routes with different raw materials are currently approved to produce sustainable fuels for aviation. These pathways include production, pretreatment, and final conversion to SAF. These include algae and fats or oils like the one left over after frying some fried eggs. Tires, solid urban waste or from agriculture can also be used.

Referrer. bp’s refinery in Castellón has become the first in the world to receive Corsia certification, which allows it to produce biofuels for aviation at an international level. This includes co-processing, the mixing of fats and oils with hydrocarbons to make these fuels.

Collaboration. Green hydrogen is the star of the project promoted by bp together with Iberdrola and Enagás at the Castellón refinery. The three companies plan to invest 90 million euros to build a 20-megawatt electrolyser to produce green hydrogen that will be used to decarbonise the energy, industry and transport sectors.

Responsibility. The passenger can also contribute to the decarbonization of aviation. Aena, ALA and Exolum have created the Avikor platform, which offers individuals and companies the possibility of reducing emissions from their flights by using sustainable fuel. Available at Madrid and Barcelona airports, passengers can offset their emissions and decide how much SAF they refuel. The platform calculates the SAF necessary to reduce emissions and is responsible for introducing the fuel. The customer assumes the difference in price.

On land. Aena is also making progress in the decarbonisation of its operations in the airport network. It is developing a photovoltaic plan that will cover all the energy consumption of the airports it manages; they are going to electrify all vehicles on land; the heating system will use geothermal energy, and the fuel in the boilers will be changed from gas to biogas and from diesel to biodiesel.

Source: Five Days