Emirates airline and Neste, a Finnish oil refining and marketing company, have expanded their partnership by strengthening their collaboration for the supply of over 3 million gallons of blended Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel in 2024 and 2025.

The sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which will be blended with conventional jet fuel, will be supplied over the course of 2024 and 2025 for Emirates’ flights departing from Amsterdam Schiphol and Singapore Changi airports.

Finland is a leader in sustainable technologies that the country actually implements. Green Prophet was invited on a press tour to Finland 13 years ago where we visited biofuel companies, green servers, and heat pump manufacturers.

Neste Oyj is an oil refining and marketing company located in Espoo, Finland. The company produces, refines and markets bioful oil products, and provides engineering services and operations in 14 countries. Neste shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki.

Biggest sale of biofuels to the Middle East to date

Emirates’ expanded partnership with Neste represents the largest volume of SAF to be uplifted of any airline based in the Middle East and Africa to date. The blended SAF will comprise over 1 million gallons of neat SAF. This represents a blended ratio of over 30% neat SAF combined with conventional Jet A-1 fuel.

By the end of 2023, the airline used SAF for the first time from its Dubai hub. SAF reduces carbon emissions of air travel by up to 80% over the fuel’s life cycle when compared to using conventional jet fuel.

“It’s also one of the many initiatives we are focused on to reduce our carbon emissions, which includes operating fuel-efficient aircraft, stepping up our fleet renewal from 2024, in addition to driving operational fuel efficiency,” said Tim Clark, President, Emirates Airline.  “Our ongoing partnership with Neste also demonstrates our active engagement and support of the rapidly developing SAF industry, and we hope that the robust demand coming from Emirates and other airlines encourages the scaling up of SAF and other emerging clean propulsion technologies.”

Alexander Kueper, Vice President EMEA from the Renewable Aviation business unit at Neste said: “Sustainable aviation fuel is a readily available solution for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions from air travel. We are proud to expand our existing cooperation with Emirates into 2024 as we are ramping up our global SAF production and continue to support their commitment to reduce emissions by supplying our Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel.”

Earlier in 2023, Emirates, in partnership with Neste and other industry stakeholders, successfully completed the first 100% SAF-powered demonstration flight in the region, utilising a Boeing 777-300ER operating on 100% SAF in one engine.

The airline has made significant strides along with its industry partners around the technical analysis and certification requirements that support standardization and future approval of 100% SAF flying.

Last month, Neste employees went on strike for labor reforms. In Decemeber, 2023, Neste partnered with Coleman Oil Company in the US to enable cities and businesses to have easier access to Neste MY Renewable Diesel in the state of Washington in the US. Neste  has also completed the strategic study and begins a gradual transformation of its crude oil refinery in Porvoo into a renewable and circular solutions refining hub.

“The COP28 declaration is a strong signal to all of us, and we want to be in the forefront of accelerating the green transition with our renewable and circular solutions,” says Matti Lehmus, the President and CEO of Neste. “The long term transformation of the Porvoo refinery is a key element in our renewables growth strategy, completing Neste’s journey to a 100% renewable and circular solutions provider when finalized.”

New Jersey blew up its last coal-fired plant this month. We welcome the transformation to renewable energy and hope progress is made faster, with people working in these industries earning a fair wage.

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In 2012, the world’s airlines transported three billion people, emitting 689 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere. To mitigate the aviation industry’s future environmental impact, Boeing, Etihad Airways and the Masdar Institute of Technology are working on a groundbreaking new jet fuel made from desert plants fed with saltwater.

While the aviation industry only contributed two per cent of the world’s total CO2 emissions, its environmental impact is significant enough, and fossil fuels sufficiently infinite, that major airlines such as Boeing and Etihad are concerned to find new sources of clean energy.

On January 18 the group announced that they have discovered that halophytes (plants that can grow in saline conditions) fed with nutrient rich wastewater produce an efficient biofuel. The leftover water from this can then be used to feed mangrove forests, where it is purified before returning to the Persian Gulf.

(Related post: UN says aquaculture could solve fish collapse)

The Sustainable Bioenergy Research Consortium (SBRC), affiliated with MIST at Masdar City, announced plans to test two halophyte crops in the United Arab Emirates in 2014.

“Plants called halophytes show even more promise than we expected as a source of renewable fuel for jets and other vehicles,” said Dr. Alejandro Rios, Director of the SBRC. “The U.A.E. has become a leader in researching desert land and seawater to grow sustainable biofuel feedstocks, which has potential applications in other parts of the world.”

This new biofuel, grown in parts of the desert that can’t be used to produce food, is expected to emit up to 80 per cent less carbon throughout its lifecycle than conventional fossil fuels.

SBRC produced the above infographic, which demonstrates how seawater will be pumped into a fish or shrimp farm. The byproduct of that, which is rich with nutrients, will be used to nourish the halophytes, and that wastewater will in turn be purified by the UAE’s ubiquitous mangrove forests before returning to the Gulf.

“This project can have a global impact, since 97 percent of the earth’s water is ocean and 20 percent of the earth’s land is desert,” Dr. Rios said.

“Boeing is committed to finding ways to reduce aviation’s carbon emissions, and sustainable aviation biofuels is a key component of our strategy,” said Jeffrey Johnson, president, Boeing Middle East at the World Future Energy Summit during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.

“Masdar Institute’s biofuel research is showing tremendous potential, and we applaud Abu Dhabi’s leadership and innovation in this critical area.”

On January 18, Etihad Airways completed a test flight with a 777-300ER that was powered with in part with biofuel refined in the UAE.

Lead image of salt-tolerant halophytes / Shutterstock

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