Cooking Oil Can Fuel Aircraft in the Future

A decade ago, the idea of ​​flying a plane fueled by cooking oil waste could have been ridiculous, but now it has become a reality.

“Sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) are the only way air travel can significantly help decarbonization,” wrote the Oil Price website. The report added: “Sustainable aviation fuels have the capacity to reduce carbon emissions in the industry by 34%.

“SAFs can play a significant role by 2050 with a 34% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050,” the CEO of European Airlines, a business organization representing 70% of the industry, said in a recent interview.

(SAF) is a term used to describe the advanced types of aerial biofuels used in jet aircrafts.

But what are aviation fuels made of? Waste cooking oil is one of the sources used in the production of such fuels. Other sources include animal fats and other vegetable oils, household solid waste and commercial occupations, including paper and packaging, and even food waste, according to the British Petroleum website.

This doubles the role of sustainable aviation fuels: on the one hand, it reduces aircraft emissions by up to 80%, and on the other hand, it reduces the amount of waste that goes to landfills.

The British Petroleum website explains that stable fuels can be combined with up to 50% of conventional jet fuel, without affecting aircraft performance.

There is a growing tendency to use such fuels because of their potential role in reducing carbon emissions in the life cycle.

Carbon dioxide, which plants absorb and then convert to biomass, is calculated from carbon dioxide from the combustion of stable aviation fuels during flight. This method is used for further calculate or evaluation of carbon emissions.

According to the SAF Aviation Association, production reached 100 million liters this year and another 7 billion liters will be produced in future contracts. More than 45 airlines have tested sustainable fuels.

It should also be noted that 100 million liters is not a lot. In 2019, jets required an average of 7.5 million barrels of fuel per day, indicating that the total amount of stable aircraft fuel used in the industry is small. But the pressure on airlines to use more of this type of fuel has increased.

However, the use of these fuels is hampered by the cost and availability of raw materials for their manufacture. In fact, there is a limit to the amount of waste that can be converted into sustainable aviation fuel, and this is a major obstacle to the widespread use of this type of fuel.

Cost is also the biggest challenge for sustainable aviation fuels, which will not be met any time soon.

Source: aviationcenter_news