Updated:02/06/2022 02:13h
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From airplanes to tractors, through boats, private vehicles or trucks, transport will continue to need liquid fuels as the main source of energy for a long time, according to estimates by the AOP (Spanish Association of Petroleum Product Operators). The current costs of access to new technologies or the limitations of technological developments make alternatives with increasingly lower emissions, efficient and accessible, necessary. And this is where low-carbon ecofuels come from, which come from alternative raw materials to oil, as forestry and agricultural residues or captured CO2.
For this reason, and in the sector that might seem the most difficult to reach, Iberia has already operated its first flight using biofuel. This A330-200 MTOW 242 TN version has a maximum take-off capacity of 242 tons, and consumes 15% less fuel than the fleet it replaces and is therefore more environmentally friendly.
Together with two other upcoming flights, CO2 emissions into the atmosphere will be reduced by 125 tons, thanks to the improvement in the consumption efficiency of the fleet used, together with the use of sustainable biofuel.
It has been in collaboration with Repsol, pioneer in the manufacture of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF, for its acronym in English) in Spain, and with the production of fuels in its industrial complexes, it anticipates the different measures that the community institutions have established to promote the use of sustainable aviation fuels. In this sense, advanced biofuel from waste is included in the list of sustainable fuels in the European Renewable Energy Directive.
In the future, Iberia and Repsol will operate new flights with a growing percentage of biofuel mix that can reach up to 50%. This product will be produced in the first advanced biofuels plant in Spain, which is scheduled to come into operation in 2023 in Cartagena. Also in 2024, Repsol and Iberia plan to operate with synthetic SAF (e-fuel) produced at the Petronor plant in Bilbao. In addition, both companies are working on a project for the use of HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil) in vehicles for airport services.
In fact, in Spain, the Repsol company has already begun construction in Cartagena of the first biofuel manufacturing plantwith the goal of producing 250,000 tons per year from 2023, reaching 1.3 million tons of products from renewable materials in 2025 and more than 2 million in 2030. From hydrogen and recycled raw material, for example frying oils, fats, the organic fraction of urban waste, or biomass from agricultural or forestry residues, advanced biofuels can be manufactured, such as hydrobiodiesel (HVO), biojet, bionaphtha and biopropane.
The result will be biofuels that can be use without modification on current engines and that they will mean an emission saving of 900,000 tons of CO2 per year, an amount similar to what a forest the size of 180,000 football fields would absorb. It will involve an investment of 188 million euros and some 1,000 professionals will work on its construction.
Furthermore, in the port of Bilbao, developing an innovative project worldwide to produce synthetic fuels with zero net emissions. It will use the CO2 captured in the refinery and hydrogen produced with 100% renewable electricity as the only raw materials. The CO2 emitted by these fuels in their complete life cycle is equivalent to that which is captured and used in their manufacture, resulting in a net balance of zero emissions.
At European level, the eFuels Alliance has also set itself the goal of promoting environmentally friendly fuels. This organization, in which associations and companies from sectors such as the production of mineral oils, the automotive and supplier industry, mechanical engineering, research and science participate, aims to establish and promote eFuels for climate protection and make them applicable all over the world. The next two years will be decisive, because the European Commission is going to review its climate objectives. Among them, the legislation on automobiles to recognize the contribution of e-fuels to achieving the reduction of emissions.
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