Travel

From fast food to jet fuel: Cooking oil helping Heathrow’s green revolution

By Anna Ellis • 23 February 2023 • 13:39

From fast food to jet fuel: Cooking oil helping Heathrow’s green revolution. Image: Jack Jelly / Shutterstock.com.

Grenner, cleaner jet fuel has become a hot commodity at Heathrow as the airport embarks on the second year of its Sustainable Aviation Fuel incentive scheme.

In 2022 Heathrow launched a world first: an airport Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) incentive programme which aimed to cover up to 50 per cent of the extra cost, making the fuel more affordable for airlines to use.

With last year’s scheme oversubscribed, Heathrow is now aiming to triple the percentage used in 2023 to approximately 1.5 per cent, putting the airport on course to be one the world’s largest users of SAF this year.

Participants of the scheme include IAG, Virgin Atlantic, United Airlines, Air France, KLM and JetBlue.

SAF is a proven technology that reduces carbon emissions by up to 70 per cent compared with traditional jet fuel. It can be made from a variety of sources, including waste, animal fat and cooking oil.

SAF can work in existing aircraft without the need for technical modifications, and with advancements in aircraft technology like electric or hydrogen-powered flight still some way from commercial implementation, SAF is the key to unlocking material reductions in carbon today.

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