NEW DELHI: In a first for India, a refinery here has been certified to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Cotecna Inspection India Pvt Ltd has certified Indian Oil’s Panipat refinery to convert used cooking oil to “co-processed oil to be used for replacement” of aviation turbine fuel (ATF).“The Union petroleum and aviation ministries worked together to have an agency certify refineries in India for SAF production. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) coordinated this and as a result a first refinery has got certified as a co-processing plant. Now the focus will be on stepping up production to have a meaningful amount of SAF in India in coming years and meet the emission targets,” said people in the know.
The Panipat refinery now complies with the requirements of “carbon offsetting and reduction scheme for international aviation” (CORSIA) — a global market-based measure designed to help international aviation industry reduce its carbon footprint. CORSIA is a key part of International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) strategy to achieve carbon-neutral growth for international flights going ahead. Founded in 1974 in Switzerland, Cotecna is a leading provider of testing, inspection and certification services. Cotecna Inspection India Pvt Ltd is part of that group.India plans to mandate blending of SAF with conventional ATF to reduce carbon emissions from the aviation sector. The plan is to consider an initial SAF blending target of 1% for all international flights by 2027 and increasing that to 2% in the next year or so. Subsequently, blending may be managed for domestic flights. SAF is not yet permitted for commercial flights in India.SpiceJet had conducted India’s first biojet fuel flight, using a blend of 75% regular ATF and 25% biofuel in Aug 2018. The flight, a test run, was operated on a Bombardier Q400 aircraft from Dehradun to Delhi. This biofuel was developed by the Indian Institute of Petroleum in Dehradun, using jatropha as a feedstock.Subsequently, IndiGo conducted demonstration flights using SAF blended with regular ATF when in Feb 2022 it operated its first international ferry flight with a 10% SAF blend from Toulouse to Delhi.Airlines globally and in India have done test flights with blended ATF. However, the biggest challenge everywhere is the availability of SAF in required volumes.