Singapore (VNA) – A new facility on Pulau Bukom island of Singapore will produce sustainable aviation fuel from 2028, with Singapore Airlines (SIA) and US low-cost carrier JetBlue potentially becoming its early users.
Climate technology start-up Aether Fuels and Aster on November 11 signed a cooperation agreement to develop the Project Beacon facility which is expected to produce up to 50 barrels a day – or 2,000 tonnes of fuel annually – when completed in 2028.
It will be located at Aster’s refining hub on Pulau Bukom, which the chemical, energy and infrastructure solutions company took over from Shell in April.
Sustainable aviation fuel is jet fuel made from renewable or waste-based sources that produce lower greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fossil jet fuel.
Finnish energy giant Neste operates a refinery in Tuas South that can produce up to one million tonnes of such fuel from waste materials like used cooking oil and animal fats annually.
Aether Fuels’ technology uses industrial waste gases and biomethane to produce the fuel, which achieves a more than 70% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared with conventional jet fuel, according to the company. This approach is not as readily available as the technology used by Neste.
Sustainable aviation fuel is widely regarded as the most practical way to decarbonise the aviation industry, which contributes 2.5% of global carbon emissions, as it does not require aircraft modification or new airport infrastructure. The fuel is blended with fossil fuel-based jet fuel before use. The greener fuel is almost four times more expensive than fossil fuel-based jet fuel./.
