Air Canada has strengthened its partnership with
Neste, a leading producer of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), by
ordering 9.5 millions litres which will be used to power flights from San
Francisco International Airport.
The 9.5 million litres of SAF
will generate GHG reductions of approximately 23,500 tonnes of
CO2e calculated based on a full lifecycle assessment, equivalent to the annual GHG emissions absorbed
by 28,000 acres of forest as per the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency equivalencies calculator.
“Decarbonising aviation is more important than
ever and Neste is committed to helping the aviation industry move
towards a more sustainable future,” said Michael Sargeant, Vice President Americas
from the Renewable Aviation business unit at Neste. “We are proud to support Air
Canada in working towards their ambitious goal of net-zero
emissions from all its global operations by 2050 by supplying Neste’s
SAF which helps enable airlines to reduce their emissions. We look
forward to continuing to work together as we increase our annual
SAF production capability to 1.5 million tons per annum by the end
of 2023.”
Powering aircraft with SAF directly reduces GHG at
the source and could reduce
emissions by up to 80% over the fuel’s life cycle, compared to
conventional jet fuel.
Since 2012, Air Canada has purchased 2,399,435
litres of SAF and continues to work towards its goal of net-zero
emissions from all its global operations by 2050, with absolute
midterm GHG net reduction targets by 2030 for both its air and
ground operations compared to its 2019 baseline.
“At Air Canada, we have adopted a multifaceted
approach to addressing climate change and sustainability.
Environmental and social factors are incorporated into our
strategic decisions, as are our fleet purchases and daily
operations through our support of low-carbon alternatives,” said
Michael Rousseau, President and CEO at Air Canada. “SAF
comprises one of our core pillars in pursuing our net-zero
emission targets. We have been purchasing Neste’s SAF since
February 2022. This latest purchase represents a five-fold
increase in our SAF procurement year-over-year and is an important
step towards our target of one per cent fuel to be SAF by 2025,
supporting our journey towards our 2050 net zero decarbonization
goals.”
Through Air Canada’s Leave Less Travel Program,
corporate customers and cargo freight forwarders can purchase SAF,
carbon offsets or a combination of both to offset or reduce GHG
emissions related to business travel or cargo shipments,
mitigating their carbon footprint.
