Air Canada is refuses to use harmful fuels

Air Canada announced the purchase of 9.5 million liters of environmentally friendly aviation fuel (SAF). The airline long ago declared its commitment to environmental principles and continues to promote initiatives to combat climate change. This time, Air Canada is strengthening its partnership with Neste, the company that produces environmentally friendly SAF fuel.

"At Air Canada, we have adopted a multifaceted approach to addressing climate change and sustainability. Environmental and social factors are incorporated into our strategic decisions, as are our fleet purchases and daily operations through our support of low-carbon alternatives. SAF comprises one of our core pillars in pursuing our net-zero emission targets. We have been purchasing Neste's SAF since February 2022. Today's announced purchase represents a five-fold increase in our SAF procurement year over year and is an important step towards our target of one percent fuel to be SAF by 2025, supporting our journey towards our 2050 net zero decarbonization goals," said Michael Rousseau, President and CEO at Air Canada.

9.5 million liters of SAF would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 23,500 tons of CO2. This amount is equivalent to the amount of carbon dioxide emissions that 28,000 acres of forest can absorb in a year. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency equivalencies calculator is used for such calculations.

"Decarbonising aviation is more important than ever and Neste is committed to helping the aviation industry move towards a more sustainable future. We are proud to support Air Canada in working towards their ambitious goal of net-zero emissions from all its global operations by 2050 by supplying Neste's SAF which helps enable airlines to reduce their emissions. We look forward to continuing to work together as we increase our annual SAF production capability to 1.5 million tons per annum by the end of 2023," said Michael Sargeant, Vice President Americas from the Renewable Aviation business unit at Neste.

Corporate customers and cargo freight forwarders can also purchase SAF or carbon credits. A carbon credit is 1 ton of carbon dioxide that has avoided leakage into the atmosphere. Such a certificate proves that its holder has prevented the emission of 1 ton of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, for example through an environmental project, forest conservation measures, or the operation of renewable energy capacity.

Powering planes with SAF directly reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Environmentally friendly jet fuel is an alternative to conventional fossil-based jet fuel.

It must be said that the current global supply of SAF is still extremely limited, expensive and insufficient to support global demand. Air Canada also expects to work with the Canadian government to make SAF more affordable.