Emirates conducted a successful demonstration of a test flight powered by 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), making a breakthrough at a time when carriers across the world are trying to minimize their carbon footprint.
After taking off from Dubai International Airport, the Boeing 777-300ER flight flew for nearly one hour over the coastline of the United Arab Emirates with one of its two engines entirely powered by SAF. The second General Electric Co. engine, however, made use of conventional jet fuel to avoid any risks, according to the airline.
“The trial today is very important and sets a new milestone for the industry and Emirates airline … it has not been done before on a wide body airplane, so it is great teamwork between Emirates, GE and Boeing,” stated chief operating officer Adel Al Redha at the Emirates Engineering Centre before the flight took off.
“It is definitely a step forward towards helping the environment. With this step, our aim is to provide an alternative fuel that will reduce carbon emissions and become more environmentally friendly.”
Sustainable Aviation Fuel
Emirates worked alongside partners Honeywell, GE Aerospace, Neste, Boeing, and Virent to obtain and develop a blend of SAF that closely replicates the properties of conventional jet fuel with the help of the following elements:
- Virent claimed using plant-based sugars to make the compounds needed for sustainable jet fuel.
- Neste’s fuel came from vegetable oils and animal fats
These fuels decrease the release of heat-trapping carbon dioxide typically burned off by engines in flight.
While the currently approved SAF is used only in blends of up to 50% with conventional jet fuel, the test flight will help in refining the playbook for future SAF such that it will provide support for the certification of 100% drop-in SAF fuel that would be approved for the future aircraft flights.
Additionally, the test flight demonstrated the compatibility of the specially blended SAF as a nontoxic and reliable fuel source.
“We hope that landmark demonstration flights like this one, will help open the door to scale up the SAF supply chain and make it more available and accessible across geographies, and most importantly, affordable for broader industry adoption in the future.” Al Redha noted.