Sustainable fuel no longer a flight of imagination for the aviation industry

Chevron, Delta Airlines and Google partner up, with all three companies working on a plan to take eco-friendly fuel to the skies.

Delta Air could soon be flying on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) after striking a deal with energy company Chevron.

The oil and gas company plans to produce a test batch of the fuel and sell it to the airline at Los Angeles International Airport in a bid to curb carbon emissions.

The proposed “eco-fuel” is produced from biofeedstocks which have the capacity to reduce lifecycle carbon intensity significantly compared to conventional jet fuel.

Another step towards a more sustainable future

Amelia DeLuca, Delta’s managing director of Sustainability, says on top of being the first airline to go carbon neutral globally, the airline also pledges to replace 10 percent of their jet fuel with SAF by 2030.

“As aviation continues to define a more sustainable future, understanding the environmental impacts of our operations will be paramount as we look to mitigate climate change,” DeLuca says.

“This partnership has the potential to help us achieve that goal while providing important data and analytics that demonstrate the environmental integrity of our commitment.”

Chevron and Delta Air will also partner with Google to assess and measure fuel emission data as part of the project.

Google Cloud plans to build a data and analytics framework which will help analyse emissions data and in turn provide feedback relating to Chevron’s test batch.

This will also allow for greater transparency and improve reporting on SAF emissions.

“Google Cloud has a history of pioneering emissions reduction technologies and we’re looking forward to exploring the use of data and analytics capabilities to advance renewable fuel understanding and adoption,” Google Cloud Global Energy director Larry Cochrane says.

Chevron plans to produce a test batch of SAF at its El Segundo Refinery.

Written by Rebecca Borg