<p style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Scaffolding and green pipes envelop a refinery in the port of Rotterdam where Finnish giant Neste is preparing to significantly boost production of sustainable aviation fuel.</span><br></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">Switching to non-fossil aviation fuels that produce less net greenhouse gas emissions is key to plans to decarbonise air transport, a significant contributor to global warming.</p><p style="text-align: justify; ">Neste, the largest global producer of SAF, uses cooking oil and animal fat at this Dutch refinery.</p><p style="text-align: justify; ">Sustainable aviation fuels are being made from different sources such as municipal waste, leftovers from the agricultural and forestry industry, crops and plants, and even hydrogen.</p><p style="text-align: justify; ">These technologies are still developing and the end product is more expensive.</p><p style="text-align: justify; ">But these fuels will help airlines reduce CO2 emissions by up to 80 percent, according to the International Air Transport Association.</p><p style="text-align: justify; ">Global output of SAF was 250,000 tonnes last year, less than 0.1 percent of the more than 300 million tonnes of aviation fuel used during that period.</p><p style="text-align: justify; ">"It's a drop in the ocean but a significant drop," said Matti Lehmus, CEO of Neste.</p><p style="text-align: justify; ">"We'll be growing drastically our production from 100,000 tonnes to 1.5 million tonnes next year," he added.</p><p style="text-align: justify; ">There clearly is demand.</p><p style="text-align: justify; ">The European Union plans to impose the use of a minimum amount of sustainable aviation fuel by airlines, rising from two percent in 2025 to six percent in 2030 and at least 63 percent in 2050.</p><p style="text-align: justify; ">Neste has another site for SAF in Singapore which will start production in April.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">With the production facilities of Neste in Rotterdam and Singapore, we can meet the mandate for EU in 2025," said Jonathan Wood, the company's vice president for renewable aviation.</span><br></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">Vincent Etchebehere, director for sustainable development at Air France, said that "between now and 2030, there will be more demand than supply of SAF".</p><p style="text-align: justify; ">- 'Need to mature technologies' -</p><p style="text-align: justify; ">Air France-KLM has reached a deal with Neste for the supply of one million tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel between 2023 and 2030.</p><p style="text-align: justify; ">It has also lined up 10 year-agreements with US firm DG Fuels for 600,000 tonnes and with TotalEnergies for 800,000 tonnes.</p><p style="text-align: justify; ">At the Rotterdam site, two giant storage tanks of 15,000 cubic metres are yet to be painted.</p><p style="text-align: justify; ">They lie near a quay where the fuel will be transported by boat to feed Amsterdam's Schiphol airport and airports in Paris.</p><p style="text-align: justify; ">The Franco-Dutch group has already taken steps to cut its carbon footprint, using 15 percent of the global SAF output last year -- or 0.6 percent of its fuel needs.</p><p style="text-align: justify; ">Neste's Lehmus said there was a great need to "mature the technologies" to make sustainable aviation fuel from diverse sources such as algae, nitrocellulose and synthetic fuels.</p><p style="text-align: justify; ">Air France CEO Anne Rigail said the prices of sustainable aviation fuel were as important as their production.</p><p style="text-align: justify; ">Sustainable fuel costs 3,500 euros ($3,800) a tonne globally but only $2,000 in the United States thanks to government subsidies. In France, it costs 5,000 euros a tonne.</p><p style="text-align: justify; ">"We need backing and we really think the EU can do more," said Rigail. AFP</p><p style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</p>