The use of 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) can reduce reliance on fossil fuels in the air transportation sector as well as significantly reduce environmentally harmful emissions. As part of the Emission and CLimate Impact of alternative Fuels (ECLIF3) campaign, an in-flight study recently recorded a dramatic drop in emissions from a SAF-powered Airbus A350.

The collaboration involving Airbus, Rolls-Royce, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and SAF producer Neste monitored the impact of 100% SAF use on emissions from both engines of the plane powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines. Compared to a reference Jet A-1 fuel, the number of ice crystals per mass of unblended SAF consumed was reduced by 56%, which could contain the climate-warming effect of condensation trails.

The ECLIF3 research reported in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics documents the lower climate impact when using 100% SAF due to the lack of aromatics in Neste’s SAF. Increased consumption of such fuel could reduce the climate impact of aviation in the short term by reducing contrails and greenhouse gas emissions. Global model simulations estimate 26% reduction in contrails' climate impact when using 100% SAF.

To contact the author of this article, email shimmelstein@globalspec.com