United Airlines Signs Up For 50m gals Of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) from Neste

Neste whose slogan is ‘change runs on renewables’ will be the company whose fuel runs through the fleet of United Airlines.

According to an agreement signed on 10 May 2022, Neste is expected to provide 50 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for United Airlines’ flights originating from Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport (AMS) in the Netherlands.

SAF is a low-carbon synthetic fuel that can, according to the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) safely power turbine engines. It is derived from “feedstocks cellulosic biomass, wastes and residues, waste steel-mill gases and captured CO2”! Earlier this year, Neste partnered with Ryan Air in the UK to provide their flights with 40% SAF blended fuel. In that deal, they promised a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by over 60%.

United Airlines believes that reduced carbon emissions from fuel is a quicker way to be 100% green by 2050. The finer print of the deal stated that United Airlines will get 2.5 million gallons in year 1, the option to purchase 20 in year 2, and up to 30 in the 3^rd year.

According to Neste’s promotional video, they have the ‘potential’ to supplement up to 10% off global Jet-A fuel use with sustainable aviation fuels (SAF).

Neste alleges that they can further ride the green wagon with “raw materials such as municipal solid waste and lignocellulosics becoming commercial in the next 5-10 years”, the “potential to fully substitute fossil jet fuel use”, and possibly achieve sustainable zero-carbon by 2050 if they really push the agenda! Let’s watch what happens!

FMI: https://neste.nl, https://united.com, https://nbaa.com