India has been taking a steady stride towards green aviation to reduce the country’s carbon footprint with the country is encouraging its airports to use green energy by 2024 and achieve net zero by 2030.
“We are encouraging our airports to use green energy by 2024 and achieve net zero by 2030. Twenty-five of our airports are already using 100 percent green energy. Our target is to make another 121 airports carbon neutral by 2025,” India’s Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya M. Scindia said recently.
India's commitment to sustainable development has placed significant emphasis on green aviation, especially with the rapid expansion of its aviation industry. The country has emerged as the world's third-largest aviation market due to the growth of low-cost carriers, infrastructure development, increasing disposable income, and the expansion of the tourism industry, wrote Aditi Singh in Invest India. Air passenger traffic in India, comprising both domestic and international travel, is expected to reach 395 million in 2023-24.
By FY2030, it is predicted that India's domestic airport passenger numbers will rise to 700 million, while its international airport passenger numbers will reach 160 million. In India, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has been spearheading the promotion of sustainable development in the aviation sector by encouraging the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), a green alternative. Produced from animal fats (biomass), wastes (used cooking oil), and agro residues (palm fatty acid distillate), SAF can be safely blended with traditional jet fuel, making it a "drop-in" fuel.
Unlike hydrogen and electric technologies, the two fuels' chemical characteristics are very similar, so aircraft and supply infrastructure should not require extensive adaptation. Usage of SAF against conventional jet fuels would result in a lifecycle carbon reduction of up to 80 percent carbon emissions.
The Indian government is actively promoting the use of SAF and has set a target of achieving 10 percent blending of SAF with conventional jet fuel by 2030, Singh wrote in her article. Indian Oil Corporation is planning to set up a joint venture with US-based clean energy technology company LanzaJet Inc and multiple domestic airlines for the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), people aware of the development said. The proposed venture will set up a plant to make SAF with alcohol-to-jet technology at the state-run company’s Panipat refinery in Haryana at a cost of Rs 3,000 crore, they said, reported The Economic Times. EU lawmakers and member state governments have reached an agreement on boosting "green" aviation fuels at airports to cut carbon emissions, officials said recently.
The preliminary deal would see a minimum of two percent of sustainable aviation fuel -- synthetic, biofuel, or recycled from waste gases and plastic -- mixed into currently used kerosene starting from 2025, rising gradually to 70 percent by 2050, reported AFP. The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has been implementing various schemes and initiatives in this direction.
One key step in this direction is promoting the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), a green alternative. Produced from animal fats (biomass), wastes (used cooking oil), and agro residues (palm fatty acid distillate), SAF can be safely blended with traditional jet fuel, making it a “drop-in” fuel. As per some reports, using SAF in comparison to conventional jet fuels would result in a lifecycle carbon reduction of up to 80 percent, reported NewsonAir.
The Indian government is working with industry players to develop the SAF supply chain in India.
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