India will use at least 5% blended biofuel in foreign flights by 2030 to meet international carbon emissions standards, the government said on Monday.
Sustainable aviation fuel or SAF has been slowly gaining prominence as the industry attempts to make transitions towards less polluting sources of energy.
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SAF, like ethanol-blended petrol for cars, is an alternative fuel made from non-petroleum feedstocks like food and yard waste portion of municipal solid waste, woody biomass, fats/greases/oils, and other feedstocks, that reduces emissions from air transportation.
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The government has approved indicative blending targets of 1% by 2027, 2% by 2028 and 5% by 2030 for SAF in Traditional Aviation Fuel, initially for international flights, Murlidhar Mohol, the minister of state for civil aviation, told Parliament in response to a question.
Public sector oil marketing companies are actively engaged in achieving the stated blending targets, he said.
Global Push
India is part of the International Civil Aviation Organization which has adopted a market-based measure called Carbon Offsetting Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) to reduce carbon emissions from international aviation.
The country is under an obligation to comply with the mandatory phase of CORSIA from 2027. Under the CORSIA scheme, airlines are required to offset their emissions above a set baseline of 2019. The CORSIA scheme is applicable for international flights only.
"To facilitate the Indian aviation industry's transition towards carbon-neutral growth, India has joined ICAO's Assistance, Capacity-building and Training for Sustainable Aviation Fuels (ACT-SAF) programme, which aims to support the mitigation of CO2 emissions from international civil aviation in ICAO Member States. India is also an active member of various working groups of ICAO Committee on Aviation Environment Protection where experts from all member states participate and contribute to the development of environmental standards and guidance material for the international aviation sector," the minister said.
The jet fuel can be blended at different levels with limits between 10% and 50%, depending on the feedstock and how the fuel is produced.
In August, the country's largest refiner and fuel retailer Indian Oil Corp. signed a memorandum of understanding with Tata Group airline Air India for the supply of SAF, marking a major step towards a greener future for Indian aviation.
IOC is the first Indian company to secure ISCC CORSIA certification for SAF production at its Panipat Refinery. It is a prerequisite for commercial SAF production.
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