Leaders from Boeing and DHL have strongly indicated a commitment to steaming ahead with sustainable aviation fuel and other new technologies.
From the fringes of science fiction to the skies of the near future, aviation giants are increasingly looking at new fuel sources to power passenger and cargo flights.
Leaders from Boeing and DHL were both in New Zealand this week.
And they made it clear that, whatever turbulence might affect the world of politics, industry heavyweights were committed to steaming ahead with sustainable aviation fuel (Saf) and other new technologies.
Saf is produced from sources including farm and forestry waste, animal fats, vegetable oils and municipal solid waste.
Travis Cobb, executive vice-president for global network operations and aviation at DHL Express, said the company had more than 300 aircraft.
“With that scale, it generates a heck of a lot of carbon emissions, so that air network is responsible for 90% of DHL Express’s carbon emissions.”
Aviation produced more than 60% of the DHL group’s total emissions.
Cobb said DHL wanted the most fuel-efficient aircraft and had bought more than two dozen Boeing 777-200s.
“We pick up number 27 and number 28 over the next couple of months to complete that order.”
But even then, challenges remained. DHL had training programmes to ensure planes were flown efficiently and that fuel use was optimised.
He said Saf comprised 3.5% of total jet fuel used by DHL Express last year, and the company bought 7.3% of all Saf produced worldwide.
“When you look at the industry, we’re a major user of sustainable fuel around the world.
“We’re well on our way to achieve our mid-term objective, which is to have 30% usage of sustainable fuels by 2030.”
Cobb, visiting Auckland from the company’s global headquarters in Bonn, Germany, said most Saf producers with which DHL worked were in Europe, the UK and the US.
But would the logistics giant work with a New Zealand sustainable fuel producer?
“We recently announced a deal in Japan as well as one in Singapore.
“So we’re eager for New Zealand and Australia to come online,” Cobb said.
Mark Foy, DHL New Zealand and Pacific managing director, said: “The first challenge here is to get production up and running in New Zealand and or Australia for us to then be able to acquire from that producer.”
Two years ago, the company launched Go Green Plus, which allowed its customers to buy Saf and offset their Scope 3 emissions.
Scope 3 relates to emissions from a company’s value chain.
Foy said about 3000 customers had already decided to use Go Green Plus, indicating demand for Saf not just in aviation, but among a wide variety of DHL customers.
Go Green Plus was launched after collaborations with BP and Finnish oil refiner Neste to supply sustainable fuel derived from waste oil to DHL Express hubs.
Cobb said DHL aimed to lock in multi-year deals for buying Saf. Last year, it bought more than €100 million ($196m) of sustainable aviation fuel.
Countries within the International Civil Aviation Organisation had committed to a net-zero aviation target by 2050.
The International Air Transport Association (Iata) had also committed to that goal.
But Iata has voiced disappointment at the slow growth in Saf, which it said accounted for 0.3% of global jet fuel production last year.
“There is an upfront capital investment that is required, whether they’re building a greenfield manufacturing plant or doing a conversion of an existing jet fuel plant,” Foy said.
“That capital intensity upfront is a limitation. Where governments can support that is [by] allocating money for those infrastructure investment projects.”
He said big fuel manufacturers followed incentives for converting to Saf.
Boeing said New Zealand-made sustainable aviation fuel could spawn a lucrative local industry and create thousands of jobs in the next 25 years.
The aircraft manufacturer said a study by California-based Cyan Ventures found New Zealand could use agricultural and forestry waste, animal fats, vegetable oils and municipal solid waste to greatly improve fuel security.
It said the Cyan study, which it supported, found domestic production of Saf could meet 30% of New Zealand’s jet fuel needs by 2050, generate 5700 jobs and improve fuel security.
“Given aviation’s a global industry, it’s a global challenge and we’ve got different jurisdictions moving at different paces when it comes to developing Saf policy and renewable fuels policy more broadly,” Dr Kimberly Camrass, Boeing’s Asia-Pacific acting regional sustainability lead, told the Herald.
She said New Zealand needed robust policy on Saf, and a successful industry needed strong supply chains to connect feedstocks, suppliers and infrastructure.
“From a Boeing perspective, we see aviation decarbonisation as a team sport.
“The whole of the aviation sector needs to come together to address the issues across those supply chains to make this feasible.
“We’d see Boeing having a role in working with universities, working with airlines, and as appropriate working with governments to make sure the data exists to make evidence-based policy.”
Waste feedstocks could be used not only for Saf but for renewable diesel and other fuels.
Diverting waste from landfills and turning it into a resource would have economic benefits, she said.
“New Zealand is well-placed, particularly when we look at forestry, residual waste, even municipal solid waste.”
She said farmers and the broader agricultural sector could in future export feedstocks - raw materials used in industrial production.
The Boeing-Cyan study found New Zealand could potentially safeguard $4.1 billion in tourism revenue and almost $200 million in trade revenue to 2050, which could otherwise be at risk from climate-conscious consumers and businesses.
Camrass said New Zealand’s reliance on imported jet fuel also highlighted the need for a domestic Saf supply.
In December 2023, airlines were told to ration jet fuel at Wellington in the fourth case of a bad batch of aviation fuel in New Zealand in barely a year.
The Cyan study said national jet fuel use was expected to grow by more than 90% by 2050 to meet travel and trade needs.
“Not having Saf in New Zealand is a risk given the reputation and positioning of the country as an eco-friendly destination, especially given that other countries are decarbonising aviation faster,” it said.
“Saf will increasingly become the ‘new normal’ for airline passengers.”
Camrass added: “Overall, there’s a clear case to act now, and a clear set of potential steps.”
Among the steps cited in the study was creating strong demand and investment signals for Saf at least two years in advance.
It said a definition of acceptable feedstocks and certification standards was needed, and innovators needed incentives or support to help propel “first-of-a-kind” projects.
“The opportunity to secure New Zealand’s long-term aviation fuel supply, boost economic growth and help meet ambitious climate goals through Saf is compelling.”
Cobb said DHL was keenly watching innovation in electric and other propulsion technologies.
It already had a partnership with Eviation on the “Alice” e-cargo plane, which was intended for feeder routes and could be charged during loading and unloading operations.
Some other potential e-plane projects were being considered, but Cobb said that technology would likely be for smaller aircraft or short routes.
“You think about the weight of a battery required in order to propel a small turboprop aircraft for 150km even, it’s a pretty significant weight ... so that limits the payload that’s available to carry for our cargo.”
For bigger aircraft and longer routes, hydrogen-powered planes could be more realistic.
Boeing’s Aurora Flight Sciences is developing a small uncrewed aircraft powered by hydrogen fuel cells.
And Airbus has the ZEROe project, developing aircraft with electric propeller propulsion systems powered by hydrogen fuel cells, which transform hydrogen into electricity through chemical reaction.
“We’re certainly following that development closely as well.”