Munich Airport has announced that green kerosene will be available to refuel aircraft at the airport from June. After thorough technical testing, the fuel depot at the airport is now being opened for climate-friendly fuels.
This will enable sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) to be delivered, stored and refuelled at Munich Airport, provided they meet the relevant quality specifications for Jet-A1 aviation fuel.
The tank farm, which is supplied with fuel by various oil companies on behalf of the airlines, will now also receive deliveries of SAF blends such as conventional paraffin with an admixture of renewable fuels.
The fuel from renewable energy sources is fed into the fuel depot at Munich Airport as a SAF blend that is already ready for refuelling. This blend of fossil paraffin and an admixed SAF content of around 35% will then enable particularly lower-emission flight operations.
The SAF fuels used today are mostly produced from renewable raw materials, so-called Biomass to Liquid (BtL) fuels. According to the airport, in the future we will see synthetically produced paraffin that will be available on the market, also known as Power to Liquid fuels, which are produced by electrolysis using water, CO2 and renewable electricity.
Although burning SAF, produced in the PtL process, releases the same amount of CO2 emissions as fossil paraffin, the crucial improvement comes in the production process itself – CO2 is used for production and is almost completely converted to fuel during this process. This in turn results in CO2 emissions being reduced by SAF compared to conventional paraffin by about 70 to 100%, depending on the efficiency of the plants.
Jost Lammers, CEO, Munich Airport, commented: “By approving our refuelling facilities for Sustainable Aviation Fuel, we are enabling airlines to reduce their CO2 emissions on flights from Munich by using sustainable aviation fuels. ‘Green fuels’ have a key role to play on the way to a complete decarbonisation of air transport. We expect the share of these sustainable fuels in total energy consumption in aviation to increase continuously in the coming years.”
Chairman of the airport’s Supervisory Board & Bavaria’s Minister of Finance Albert Füracker, also sees the opening of the refuelling facilities for alternative fuels as a forward-looking move: “Bavaria’s aviation hub is thus sending a clear signal for sustainability and climate protection in air transport. I hope that many airlines will take advantage of the opportunity to refuel their aircraft with lower-emission fuel in Munich and thus contribute to climate-friendly mobility.”
Munich Airport is also pursuing an ambitious climate protection strategy in the operation of the airport and is consistently reducing CO2 emissions with the aim of operating the airport in a CO2-neutral manner by 2030. In order to achieve its climate targets, Munich Airport is investing a total of €150 million by 2030. The airport has also shared its long-term goal to completely reduce all CO2 emissions to “net zero carbon” by 2050.
At the upcoming FTE APEX Virtual Expo 2021, themed “Relaunching Global Air Transport“, FTE will place a huge focus on championing recent sustainability efforts, provide compelling case studies that every organisation in the sector can learn from, and inspire the next steps in driving the industry forward. Find out more here.
