Finnair is particularly interested in a biofuel that utilizes wood waste from Finland’s own forests.
The Finnish airline Finnair Oy is to move towards fuels made from renewable sources. From next Spring, the company is to switch to using bio-kerosene manufactured by Neste Oil reports YLE, the Finnish Broadcasting Company.
Flights between Helsinki and London or Singapore will use fuel manufactured from waste made from cutting wood. The company will also start to use bio fuels from renewable raw materials. Commercial flights will commence when the certification agency, the ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials), approves the bio fuel for commercial use.
– We are planning to start commercial operations as soon as we get certification. We’re talking of a significant percentage of our daily flights, commented Finnair’s Environmental Director Kati Ihamäki to YLE’s news service.
Demand for Neste Oil’s bio-kerosene is expected to rise as it is one of very few refineries capable of making bio fuels for the aviation industry. Neste’s bio fuel can be used to replace fossil-based aviation fuel entirely.
– It will be the first time that NexBTL aviation fuel, this Finnish hi-tech solution, will be used in commercial service. We’re not talking any longer of a trial, but of commercial flights, explains Neste Oil’s CEO Matti Lievonen.
At the moment, the bio fuel costs twice as much as fossil fuel. The emissions limits imposed on airlines can nevertheless be partly offset in the future by using renewable fuels.
