30% of Norway’s aviation fuel could be sustainable by 2030

Research commissioned by Norwegian airports operator Avinor has concluded that 30% of Norway’s aviation fuel could be sustainable by 2030, but this depends on available funding.

The report, which performed by Danish consultancy firm Rambøll in partnership with research firms Vista Analyse and Sintef, looked at biofuel production technologies and the funding needed to make them a reality at Norwegian airports.

Avinor, LCC Norwegian, Scandinavian carrier SAS and the Federation of Norwegian Aviation Industries were all involved in the project, along with potential biojet producers, funding agencies and environmental organizations.

Fleet renewal and new technology play the biggest role in cutting emissions, but sustainable biofuels will help the industry go further.

“A new report from Rambøll now shows that 30% or 400 million liters of all aviation fuel used at Avinor’s airports could be sustainable by 2030. This fuel would be created from forestry waste and pulpwood from Norwegian forests,” Avinor said.

However, limited production means the small amount of biofuel available is not competitively priced. “Achieving the target of a 30% blend, and the corresponding cut in emissions, would only be possible with the help of public funding,” the airports operator said. Increased production would also create new businesses and jobs.

“Authorities and politicians will have to facilitate large-scale investment in the commercial production of biofuel in Norway, with financial incentives that work. The environmental charges currently paid by the airlines would have to be used for activities that benefit the climate. This would allow us to create a commercial market for the production of biofuel for aviation as quickly as possible. The sustainable biofuel would also have to go to those sectors of the aviation industry, which currently have no other technological alternatives,” Federation of Norwegian Aviation Industry DG Torbjørn Lothe said.

The Rambøll report included two financing proposals, one where existing charges are channeled into a fund to pay for biofuel blending, or a second where the fund purchases biofuel on behalf of the airlines.

“The fund could initiate a tender process and invite bids to supply a given number of liters of fuel for a specified period. The fund would achieve economies of scale and better contracts than if the airlines worked independently,” Avinor said.

Avinor is responsible for 45 airports and air navigation in Norway. The company handles around 50 million airline passengers annually; around half of these travel through Oslo airport.