Air Canada, the flag carrier of Canada, agreed with Finland-based Neste, the largest company of sustainable fuel production, on its terms to acquire 77.6 million liters or 20.5 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). This is one of the firmest steps taken by Air Canada towards sustainability goals and combating carbon footprint. According to the airline, this will be directly used towards achieving those sustainability goals, which include dropping one percent of jet fuel consumption with SAF by 2025.
Michael Rousseau, president and CEO of Air Canada, said, “SAF is an integral part of the airline’s environmental strategy that aims to cut greenhouses gases significantly over the coming years.”. These objectives for 2021 ensure that Air Canada will achieve net-zero emissions from its operations by 2050. In the short term, it has announced interim targets to reduce GHG emissions by 20 percent from flight operations and by 30 percent from ground operations by 2030. Air Canada also vowed to spend $50 million separately on SAF and other carbon-reduction initiatives.
Neste’s SAF, branded as Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel, is produced from renewable waste and residue feedstocks such as used cooking oil or animal fat wastes, but scientists are still in search of other alternative feedstocks such as algae and municipal solid waste. When the SAF is used neat, Neste says its SAF can reduce lifecycle GHG emissions from up to 80 percent compared with traditional fossil jet fuel. Neste’s Executive Vice President Carl Nyberg exclaimed: “I am proud we could expand our cooperation with Air Canada. This deal marks the first delivery of Neste SAF in Canada, and such cooperation underlines that policy support will be the linchpin for an ongoing growth of SAF use in the aviation industry.”
Air Canada imports SAF to be used at Vancouver Airport. Such importation underscores domestic SAF production as essential. According to Rousseau, while the airline will continue to depend on imported SAF, developing a competitive SAF industry in Canada is a necessary step for the sector’s aviation in reaching long-term net-zero emissions. He called on both the federal and provincial governments to support initiatives geared toward SAF production within Canada to strengthen the developing sustainable market of aviation fuels.
Neste’s SAF deliveries to Air Canada are expected to begin in December at the Vancouver marine terminal, but the company has scheduled a series of additional shipments through 2025. This deal marks another important milestone for Air Canada: it will be bringing SAF into Canada on a commercial scale for the first time, further bolstering the airline’s commitment to sustainability and reducing its impact on the environment with innovative solutions.