1. Ph. Novelli – ICAO Environment Branch
Introduction to Sustainable Alternative Fuels for Aviation and ICAO’s activities
Ph. Novelli – ICAO Environment Branch

2. Content Introduction to sustainable alternative fuels
ICAO’s activities
As the opening speaker of this session, I will start my presentation by a general introduction of sustainable alternative fuels in aviation to remind some basics for people who would be so familiar with the topic. I will then present in a second part the activities in which ICAO is engaged to support States and industry in that field.
ICAO Symposium on Aviation and Climate Change, "Destination Green", ICAO Headquarters, Montréal, Canada, May 2013

3. Emission trends and aspirational goals
CO2 Emissions
ICAO Assembly Resolution A37-19
2% annual fuel efficiency improvement
stabilizing its global CO2 emissions at 2020 levels
Baseline
Projected fuel efficiency gains
To set the scene for the introduction of alternative fuels in aviation, I shortly come on this graphic that was already introduced by Jane Hupe.
It shows that even with the most aggressive technology assumptions, a gap remains between the projected emissions of international aviation and the aspirational goal to have a carbon neutral growth.
And we are looking at sustainable alternative fuels, with a reduced CO2 footprint, as a way to fill part of this gap.
CNG 2020
ICAO Symposium on Aviation and Climate Change, "Destination Green", ICAO Headquarters, Montréal, Canada, May 2013

4. Sustainable alternative fuels
Hydrocarbon “drop-in” fuels
Sourced from renewable biomass or wastes
If properly produced, potential for significant emissions reduction on a life cycle basis
Changing the fuel to reduce aviation greenhouse gas emission is thus the driving idea.
In this approach, we are nevertheless still considering hydrocarbon fuels for the short to medium term. The idea is not to jump to fuel like hydrogen which would imply a complete redesign of aircraft and infrastructure. The targeted alternative fuels are “drop-in” fuels meaning that they are fully compatible with the current systems and interchangeable with conventional jet fuel. In fact these alternative fuels are synthetic fuels that are designed in such a way that their components and properties are close to the ones of conventional jet fuels.
To achieve the goal of reducing CO2 emissions, these hydrocarbon fuels have today to be sourced from renewable biomass and from wastes including biomass wastes but also industrial wastes.
Then, if properly produced, and it is important to insist on this point, these types of fuels can achieved significant emission reductions on a life cycle basis.
ICAO Symposium on Aviation and Climate Change, "Destination Green", ICAO Headquarters, Montréal, Canada, May 2013

5. GHG emissions on a life cycle basis
“Well / Field-to-Tank”
GHG
GHG
Combustion
Fossil CO2
Crude oil
Biofuel
“Tank-to-wake”
CO2
Neutral CO2
It is may-be useful to come back shortly on the concept of life cycle emissions and on how we expect to make emissions reduction through the use of alternative fuels.
Indeed, as I have just mention, the alternative fuels we consider are still hydrocarbons and thus their combustion still emits CO2 like the combustion of conventional kerosene. However, at the contrary of fossil CO2 that increases the amount of carbon in the biosphere, this CO2 can be considered as neutral as it comes from biomass and will return to biomass. This is the source of GHG saving using biofuels.
However the production of the fuel itself is likely to produce GHG, including CO2 and other types of GHG. In particular, in the case of biofuels we have to grow the feedstook and not only to harvest it. It is hence important to account for the emissions at all the steps of the fuel life cycle from the well, or the field, to the wake of the aircraft. And thus to achieve emissions reductions with biofuels, their emissions from the field to the tank part of the life cycle have to be lower than the emissions on the full life cycle of fossil fuels, including the tank-to-wake.
When waste are use, which can be fossil waste, the mechanism is a bit different. Then the saving is obtained through cascading uses of fossil carbon.
ICAO Symposium on Aviation and Climate Change, "Destination Green", ICAO Headquarters, Montréal, Canada, May 2013

6. Sustainable alternative fuels
Simplified view of pathways for alternative jet fuels
Approved
(HEFA)
On this viewgraph, you have more insight on where alternative fuels may come from and how they can be produced. This is only a simplified view which represents only the routes that are the most advanced for use in aviation but it gives a good idea of all the possible sources of biomass that can be used.
You have mainly 3 families of bio-feedstock that can be used: the family of oils and fats, or triglicerides, the family of sugar and starch, and the family of lignocellulosic feedstock.
Triglicerides today comes mainly from oil crops, animals fats and recycled cooking oil. Production from micro-algae is an additional promising pathway that is currently at research and development stage. Triglicerides are associated with the hydroprocessing conversion process which removes the oxygen contained in the molecules to obtain pure hydrocarbon components, similar the ones contain in conventional fuels.
Sugar and starch come from sugar crops and cereals and there are mainly associated to fermentation routes that generally produce alcohols that are further upgraded in hydrocarbons. This is the so-called alcohol-to-jet route. But advanced fermentation has also been developed that directly produces hydrocarbons that can be upgraded in jet fuel components. You can also notice that fermentation has also been developed from industrial waste gas. In that case, it is carbon monoxide that is used, while the cultivation of algae can also use waste CO2 gas from other industry.
Lignocellulose is found in the cell’s wall of plants and wood and so can come from various energy crops as well as agriculture or forest residues and from macro-algae. Lignocellulose can be directly converted into hydrocarbon using the Fischer-Trospch thermochemical route which consists first in breaking down the feedstock into a synthesis gas and then to recombine this gas in liquid hydrocarbons. This process can be used for a wide scope of carbonaceous material including municipal solid wastes.
But lignocellulose can also be transformed in sugar and can thus be used for the previous fermentation routes.
So this viewgraph shows that there is a large number of process under development that allow to process in aviation fuel components almost all kind of feedstock which gives room for regional adaptation and optimisation. Most of the various pathways produce fuel components that need to be blended with Jet A-1 to obtain the final drop-in fuel. By the way you can see that the different processes are not the one today deployed for road-transportation but that they co-produce road-transportation fuels.
Among all of these routes, two are already approved for aviation, the Fischer-Tropsch pathway and the hydroprocessing of oils and fats. The other are currently under approval.
ICAO Symposium on Aviation and Climate Change, "Destination Green", ICAO Headquarters, Montréal, Canada, May 2013

7. Example of biofuels GHG savings
You have on this viewgraph an illustration of the potential for emissions reductions of some of the previous fuels.
You have at the bottom of the graph the reference of kerosene for which the major part of the emissions consists of combustion emissions depicted in red. For biofuels, only field to tank emissions have to be considered and we can see here that depending on the type of crop and process significant emissions reduction can be achieved. At the top of the graph, the four first bars are examples of hydroprocessed oil for different types of feedstock. The 3 bars bellow are for Fischer-Tropsch fuels produced from lignocellulosic feedstock. We can see that in particular in this last case that significant emissions reduction can be achieved.
These are indicative mean values. To illustrate the impact of the production conditions on the emissions, the black lines here give the variation range for different assumption on the production conditions. We can thus see the importance with biofuels on controlling and optimizing the production process.
Source: SWAFEA
ICAO Symposium on Aviation and Climate Change, "Destination Green", ICAO Headquarters, Montréal, Canada, May 2013

8. Corner-stones in alternative fuels development for aviation
First “drop-in” fuels approved for aviation
ASTM 2009 (FT) and 2011 (HEFA)
Demonstration flights ( )
Virgin Atlantic (2008), Airbus (2008), Air New Zealand(2008), Continental (2009), JAL (2009), Qatar Airways (2009), KLM (2009)…
Demonstration of performance and safety
Emergence of commercial flights (2011  …)
Proof of safe and harmless regular use
Proof of airlines interest and engagement
This slide is to come back on the young history of alternative fuels in aviation and on the steps that were achieved in a short time.
Important corner stones of the current emergence of alternative fuels development were the works of the US Air Force and the creation of the CAAFI initiative in the US in This led to the approval under ASTM of the first “drop-in” alternative fuel family in 2009 with the Fischer-Tropsch process. The hydroprocessed oils and fats, named HEFA, in 2011.
During the approval process, from 2008 to 2011, a number of demonstration flights were achieved and demonstrated the performance and safety of the fuels.
Then, following the approval in 2011 of HEFA, commercial flights developed proving the safety and harmless of regular use and demonstrating also the interest and engagement of airlines. By June 2012, about 1500 flights had already been performed.
ICAO Symposium on Aviation and Climate Change, "Destination Green", ICAO Headquarters, Montréal, Canada, May 2013

9. Alternative fuel challenges
It works. Now the challenges are:
To initiate commercial-scale production
To make feedstock available
To make it competitive
To insure it is made in a sustainable way
So we see that alternative fuels work for aviation and can definitely be used.
However in spite of the numerous flight operated since 2011, we should not mistake. The actual production of sustainable alternative fuels for aviation is still low and nascent and the challenge is now to deploy these fuels which in fact involves a number of challenges. Without classifying them by order of importance, main challenges are to create the commercial production capability, to make feedstock available for a large use of these fuels, to make these fuels competitive and last but not least to insure that this development is achieved in a sustainable way.
ICAO Symposium on Aviation and Climate Change, "Destination Green", ICAO Headquarters, Montréal, Canada, May 2013

10. ICAO and sustainable alternative fuels
Resolution A37-19 (2010): requests States to
develop policy actions to accelerate appropriate development and use
work together through ICAO to exchange information and best practices
consider measures and incentives to support:
research and development,
investments in feedstock cultivations and production facilities
commercialization and use
ICAO: a facilitator for the emergence of alt. fuels
With view to these challenges, I would like in the second of this presentation to say a few words about the activities going on at ICAO to support the emergence of alternative fuels.
Sustainable alternative fuels have been endorsed by ICAO’s Member States as an important means to reduce aviation emissions and they are today part of the basket of measures considered to achieve ICAO’s environmental goals.
The resolution A37-19 adopted during the 2010 Assembly requests States to:
develop policy actions to accelerate the development of sustainable alternative fuels for aviation;
work together through ICAO and other relevant international bodies, to exchange information and best practices;
consider measures to support sustainable aviation alternative fuels development through research, investments in feedstock cultivations and production facilities, as well as incentives to stimulate commercialization and use.
ICAO is positioned as a facilitator to support States and industry in their effort to deploy alternative fuels.
This includes:
Providing fora for education, outreach and information exchanges on sustainable alternative fuels for aviation.
Facilitating the development of standardized definitions, methodologies and processes
Supporting a platform for access to research roadmaps and programs.
In addition to bringing States together and support international collaboration, another unique added value of ICAO is to allow a global view of alternative fuels development through the collection and synthesis of information and data. Actions plans as well as trends and projection are illustrations of this role which allow to inform decision making.
ICAO Symposium on Aviation and Climate Change, "Destination Green", ICAO Headquarters, Montréal, Canada, May 2013

11. Achievements and on-going initiatives
ICAO’s conference and workshops
Rio November 2009: Conference Aviation and alternative fuels
Montreal Feb and Oct. 2011: workshops on alternative fuels
Rio+20: the ICAO’s “Flightpath” initiative
Four connected flights using biofuels from Montréal to São Paulo
“Green flights”: biofuels + flight optimization
In its role to promote information exchange and international cooperation, ICAO has organized to date one conference of alternative fuels in Rio in 2009 and two workshops, in February 2009 and October 2010 here in Montréal.
For the RIO+20 summit, ICAO has achieved the Flighpath initiative with a number of partners including airlines, aircraft manufacturers and agencies. For the first time, four connected flights using biofuels were organized on the occasion of the travel of the Secretary General from Montréal to Rio. In addition to using biofuels, flight optimization was also implemented on some legs contributing to achieve the greenest possible flights. This was a demonstration of the progress that aviation can achieve in the future.
ICAO Symposium on Aviation and Climate Change, "Destination Green", ICAO Headquarters, Montréal, Canada, May 2013

12. Global Framework for Aviation Alternative Fuels (GFAAF) (http://www
ICAO also maintains the Global Framework on Aviation Alternative Fuels which is a website for information sharing where you can find up-to-date information about alternative fuels development, descriptions of on-going initiatives and documentation related to alternative fuels.
You have in particular the News and Activities section that is regularly updated with the announcements related to alternative fuels for aviation and connected matters.
With this second button you access the list of initiatives and projects described in the database. The description include the objectives, the description of activities, the partners and the achievements of the initiative.
You have a third section which gives access to various documentations on alternative fuels including reference reports. And last you have access to a number of links of interest for alternative fuels.
The site has been revamped this year and we are continuing to enrich it with additional information. By the way we welcome any information from stakeholders which could help adding contents to the database.
World Biofuels Markets Congress & Exhibition, March © ICAO 2013

13. The SUSTAF experts group
Mission: “to facilitate the development and deployment of alternative fuels for aviation”
Initiated in July 2012
40 experts from various geographic areas and stakeholders
Deliverable: recommendations to support States and industry in developing and deploying sustainable alternative fuels
To be presented to ICAO Assembly in October
Work focused on possible options
To overcome near-term challenges for deployment
To address sustainability
The latest initiative engaged by ICAO is the Sustainable Alternative Fuels experts group (SUSTAF) which was created in June 2012 with the mandate to facilitate the development and deployment of alternative fuels for aviation. This group is a result of the conference in Montreal in 2011 and of the 194th session of the Council. It consists of 40 experts from various geographic areas and type of stakeholders including States’ representatives, NGO, industry and other United Nation entities such as FAO or UNEP.
The group is to deliver a set of recommendations to support States and industry in their efforts to develop and deploy sustainable alternative fuels in aviation. These recommendations will be presented to the next Assembly in October 2013 after approval by the Council.
The group focused its works on the possible options to overcome the near-term challenges for the deployment of alternative fuels, and in particular on the way to address sustainability.
ICAO Symposium on Aviation and Climate Change, "Destination Green", ICAO Headquarters, Montréal, Canada, May 2013

14. The SUSTAF experts group
Economics: critical issue
Need to create a market perspective
Defining renewable energy policy considering aviation
Stable regulations and incentive policy
Multidisciplinary coordinated approach at State’s level
Sustainability needs to be part of policy
General principles to be recognized
Different approaches to be combined to ensure sustainability
Potential benefit from increased harmonization or mutual recognition
Here are some findings and conclusions of the group work.
First, the group agreed that the economics of alternative fuels are today a critical issue. A major hurdle for the deployment is the current price gap with conventional jet fuel that is likely to continue during the initial deployment phase before progress and economy of scale bring cost reduction. This price is currently not compensated by incentives for the environmental benefits of the fuel. At the contrary, most existing alternative fuels policy favor road transportation where the fuel is also currently less expensive to produce. As a result airlines are not in the position to buy the fuel and there is limited market perspective to attract investors.
So a conclusion is that if States want to see a deployment of alternative fuels, there is first a need for them to define renewable energy policies that also consider the use of alternative fuels in aviation with the associated supporting measures. In the frame of these polices, research and development also need to be supported as a way to improve efficiency, decrease cost and accelerate deployment.
Such policies and associated regulations should also be stable and long-term enough to provide confidence to investors.
Another observation is that the development and deployment of alternative fuels is a multidisciplinary issue connected to environment, energy, agriculture and different forms of transport. It thus call for a coordinated approach between States administration which is key to evaluate the biomass production potential, allocate the aviation share in the global picture of energy demand and assess all the impacts of a deployment.
This is important also for sustainability that needs to be part of the supporting policy to alternative fuels.
There are general principles to recognize for the deployment regarding the environmental, social and economic pillars of sustainability. They include greenhouse gas emissions reduction but also preservation of areas of high value for biodiversity and ecosystem services as well as social and economical development. Beyond these principles, different approaches exist to address sustainability. They include voluntary certification, national monitoring of the development and regulations. A combination of these different approaches appears as relevant to define policies to ensure sustainability.
Last, the group also agreed on the difficulties that could be induced by the emergence of disparate systems and regulations at national or regional level. In this domain, it is clear that an increased harmonisation or the definition of mechanisms for mutual recognition would yield benefit.
ICAO Symposium on Aviation and Climate Change, "Destination Green", ICAO Headquarters, Montréal, Canada, May 2013

15. Next steps ICAO engaged in:
Sharing information and successful practices
Building trends and projection for long term aviation emissions
Need to develop:
a global view of future alternative fuel production
Means to account for change in GHG emissions
Aviation needs to connect with other sectors:
In areas that would benefit from increased harmonization (e.g. sustainability, LCA emissions)
Projection for biomass availability and use
I will conclude this presentation by a few words about how we see the next steps.
There has been great success in the early development of alternative fuels and aviation community has been very proactive in demonstrating their technical feasibility. Significant challenges however remain to achieve the deployment.
ICAO is positioned as a facilitator and it will continue to support States and industry through information sharing on progress, regulation and successful practices as well as promoting the dialogue between States. It will also pursue its work to include alternative fuels in projections and trends for future aviation emissions.
For this purpose, it is important to build a global view of the future alternative fuel production and also to work with States and stakeholders on means to account for change in life cycle emissions of the fuels, so that we can assess the progress towards aviation environmental goals.
More generally, it is clear that biofuels cover a wider scope than aviation and that aviation is one of the end-users of bioenergy. Consideration should thus be given on the best ways to connect aviation with other sectors and to support States in areas that would benefit from improved harmonization such as sustainability or life cycle analysis. Projections for future biomass availability and use is also an important topic to address with other end-users.
ICAO Symposium on Aviation and Climate Change, "Destination Green", ICAO Headquarters, Montréal, Canada, May 2013