Boeing commits to deliver planes that can fly on 100 percent sustainable fuels

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February 5, 2021 By Amie Simpson Filed Under: News, Renewable Fuels, Sustainability

Boeing says it will deliver commercial airplanes ready to fly on 100 percent sustainable aviation fuels by 2030.

Sean Newsum, director of sustainability strategy, says the commitment is part of broader company efforts to reduce carbon emissions by 2050.

“We’ve recognized that the airplanes we’re delivering in the 2030 timeframe are still going to be flying around in 2050 and knowing that sustainable fuel is a key part of our strategy for reducing our emissions footprint we needed to make sure that more airplanes were going to be capable of flying on 100 percent sustainable fuels by 2030,” he says. “We decided it was important for us to communicate that and make a commitment to doing what needs to be done.”

Sustainable aviation fuels can be made from a variety of feedstocks, including agricultural feedstock like beef tallow and corn stover. Other feedstocks include forestry waste and non-edible plants.

Newsum says planes will need the capability to operate on 100 percent sustainable fuels to meet reduction goals. Current fuel specifications only allow up to a 50/50 blend with conventional jet fuel.

“We will go through our design specification to make sure all the components are compatible with 100 percent sustainable fuels,” he says. “Today’s sustainable fuels used in aviation are limited to a 50 percent blend level, partially because of some compatibility issues within the fuel systems. So, we need to go through all the airplane designs, find where those issues are, and determine what needs to be done to resolve those issues so we can raise the blend level for the fuels used in our airplanes.”

He says Boeing sees the environmental benefits and importance of addressing climate change as an industry.

“We really believe this is the most expedient and immediate available path to substantially changing the emissions profile of aviation and so we’re strong believers in sustainable fuels and trying to take action where we can cause more supply to happen and enable to growth of aviation over the long term,” he says.

Boeing is the world’s largest aerospace company and the leading provider of commercial airplanes, defense, space, and security systems, and global services.

Click here for more information about Boeing’s sustainability commitments.

Click here for more about sustainable aviation fuels.

3 comments

Tags: Agriculture, Boeing, carbon emissions, Climate, climate change, Environment, feedstocks, greenhouse gas emissions, Renewable Fuels, Sustainability, Sustainability Aviation Fuels, sustainable fuels

Jeff Sberna says:

February 7, 2021 at 4:22 am

What they call Sustainable is a large burden on farmland. I am not sure how much organic matreal they are going to removing from farms. This should be debated. If the powers that be think that the soil is just an endless supply of fuel, they are wrong. What comes out has to be replace in some form. Petroleum based fertilizer are what are used most now. They will not make up for everything and seems a little ironic at that. Most of all you need poeple coming up with these deas that are not as smart as they think they are,

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