Virgin Atlantic: first transatlantic flight using “green” fuels

The British airline Virgin Atlantic is operating this Tuesday a transatlantic flight powered entirely by so-called sustainable fuels. This is a first, but is described as a “greenwashing” operation by environmental organizations.

The flight is scheduled to take off from London’s Heathrow Airport at 12:30 p.m. Paris time to arrive at JFK in New York (United States) at 8:30 p.m. Paris time. It will be the first “running 100% on so-called sustainable fuels on both engines, by a commercial airline, on a long-haul route”, specifies Virgin. The company adds, however, that no passengers will be transported nor will any cargo load.

Products from used oils, wood residues or algae, sustainable aviation fuels (CDA) can be used in addition to kerosene (up to 50%) in current aircraft. They are considered the main lever for decarbonization of the sector for the decades to come. But their production remains in its infancy and very expensive. Additionally, they are used in combustion engines that continue to generate CO2, with decarbonization occurring further upstream, in the act of reusing plant materials instead of extracting hydrocarbons.

“A drop of water in the ocean of hydrocarbons”

The British government announced in December 2022 to support “up to 1 million pounds” (around 1.150 million euros) for this project led by the airline in collaboration with the University of Sheffield, the American aircraft manufacturer Boeing, the engine manufacturer British Rolls-Royce or the hydrocarbon giant BP. The flight takes place on a Boeing 787 equipped with Rolls-Royce engines running only on this fuel.

The environmental association Stay Grounded believes that “it is not a coincidence that this flight takes place two days before the start of COP28 in Dubai”, regarding the climate conference which is held in the United Arab Emirates. “While the world’s attention is focused on one flight, there are 100,000 every day using fossil fuels. Substitutes are just a drop in the ocean of hydrocarbons.”

Finlay Asher, an aerospace engineer who worked for Rolls Royce, quoted by Stay Grounded, explains that CDA technology, called in English SAF, is a “technological dead end” because it cannot be developed on a sufficient scale to make a difference. “The two potential sources of truly sustainable aviation fuel are both severely limited in scale. The waste used as raw material for the bio-kerosene from this flight is not available in quantities large enough to have a significant impact on aviation emissions,” explains Dr Doug Parr, scientist at Greenpeace UK.

“In addition, CO2 from direct air capture and green hydrogen produced by electrolysis (both used to make e-kerosene) are very expensive to produce (…) The only effective way to treat aviation emissions in the short term is to tackle demand, and any suggestion to the contrary is simply utopian,” adds Doug Parr.