The world’s largest passenger plane is being used as a test bed for the use of sustainable fuels in aviation. An Airbus A380 flew powered by 100% sustainable fuel made from cooking oil.
This was the company’s third aircraft to fly 100% powered by sustainable fuels in 12 months.
According to a press release, Airbus completed the first flight of the A380 on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). In this case, it was made from cooking oil and other fatty waste.
It was eight hours and 43 minutes on Friday, March 25, when the Airbus A380 took off from Blagnac airport in Toulouse, France. The aircraft flew for approximately three hours, powered by a Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine powered by sustainable fuel.
Subsequently, a second flight was made on March 29, in order to test the takeoff and landing of a plane powered by sustainable fuels. With this, the largest to date, Airbus has already put three 100% SAF-powered aircraft into the air, in the space of 12 months: in March 2021 it flew the Airbus A350 and, in October of the same year, the 319neo. He flew
For the flight that took place on March 25, the first of the A380, Airbus used 27 tons of unmixed SAF. This was supplied by TotalEnergies and consisted of cooking oil and other fat residues.
The results of the Airbus flights are very promising
The use of SAF has shown promise and potential to reduce emissions from the aviation industry: it represents approximately 2% of global carbon dioxide emissions per year.
Increasing the use of SAF remains a key path to achieving the industry's ambition of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Airbus said in the statement, citing the Waypoint 2050 report, which states that the SAF could contribute between 53% and 71% of the carbon reduction needed.
Currently, all Airbus aircraft are certified to fly fueled with up to 50% SAF mixed with paraffin oil. However, the company's goal is to achieve 100% powered flight certification by SAF before 2030.
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