Why green aviation fuel failed to take of

By Paul Homewood

Hardly surprising!!

From the Telegraph:

The quest to make flying greener has descended into a reliance on imports and spiralling costs

For those flying south this summer, the prospect of “green fuel” one day powering their planes down to the south of France or the Med may mean a little less guilt over their climate-destroying air travel.

British factories pumping out climate-friendly aviation fuel have long been a pipe-dream for the aviation industry and some holidaymakers, and it seemed one step closer six years ago when British Airways announced plans for the UK’s first factory to convert waste into jet fuel.

The futuristic plant, to be built by fuels firm Velocys on a field near the Humber estuary, in north Lincolnshire, would see household rubbish destined for landfills turned into thousands of tonnes of green plane fuel, powering the airline into a sustainable future.

Alex Cruz, then-chief executive of BA, said the fuel – known as sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) – would be a “game-changer for aviation”.

But six years after British Airways’ Velocys announcement – and a year after the SAF plant should have gone into production – that dream seems as far away as ever.

Velocys’ Humber estuary site remains as an empty field – a recent image shows that the only structure on it is a portaloo.

Full story here.

If SAF was so cheap and easy to  make, our airplanes would have been running on the stuff years ago.