Dutch flag carrier airline KLM Royal Dutch to partly use low-emission aviation fuel

The Netherlands’ flagship airline is to pump millions of euros into building Europe’s first factory for producing sustainable aircraft fuel on an industrial scale.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines said the plant would use regional waste and excess materials such as cooking oil to make bio-kerosene. Using this rather than standard plane fuel reduces CO2 emissions from flights by about 85 per cent.

The carrier said it had also committed to using 750,000 tonnes of the product over a 10-year period starting in 2022, when the plant is due to be finished.

The factory will run on sustainable hydrogen, which is produced using water and wind energy, and will produce 100,000 tonnes of the fuel. If used, this will reduce the aviation industry’s CO2 emissions by 270,000 tonnes a year. The global aviation industry emits 813.7m tonnes of CO2 a year.

For KLM, the reduction in emissions is equivalent to 1,000 flights – more than three years’ worth – between Rio de Janeiro and Amsterdam.

KLM boss Pieter Elbers said: “The advent of aviation has had a major impact on the world, offering a new means of bringing people closer together. This privilege goes hand in hand with huge responsibility towards our planet. KLM takes this very seriously.”