Lufthansa Group and Shell have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to explore the supply of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) at airports globally.
The two firms are looking to sign a contract for a total supply volume of up to 1.8 million tonnes of SAF between 2024 and 2030.
Lufthansa said that the cooperation would enable it to promote “the availability, market ramp-up and use of SAF as an essential element for a CO2-neutral future of aviation”, while the MoU builds on Shell’s aims to have at least ten percent of its global aviation fuel sales as SAF by 2030.
Lufthansa Group said that the current generation of SAF – mainly produced from biogenic residues – saves 80 per cent CO2 compared to conventional kerosene.
It is targeting a halving of net CO2 emissions (compared to 2019) by 2030, and a neutral CO2 balance across the group by 2050.
In recent years the group has been researching forward-looking power-to-liquid and sun-to-liquid technologies, including being a partner and pilot customer of the world’s first production plant for power-to-liquid aviation fuels.
It is also working to accelerate the launch of airline fuel derived from sunlight, water and CO2 extracted from the atmosphere, with subsidiary Swiss set to be the first airline in the world to use “sun-to-liquid” fuel.
Earlier this year Lufthansa also began testing a new service allowing passengers to offset the CO2 emissions of their trip via the onboard entertainment system.