Qantas in race to go green with refinery

QANTAS has secured a deal to establish Australia’s first dedicated sustainable aviation fuel refinery in Queensland as the airline strives to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Sugar cane waste and other agricultural by-products will be turned into jet fuel at the refinery being developed by Jet Zero Australia using technology from US company Lanza Jet. Qantas and Airbus will jointly provide $2m towards the venture, and the Queensland government $760,000.

Construction is due to start in 2024 at a site to be announced, with production expected to begin in 2026. It will have a maximum output of 100 million litres of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) a year. Qantas will need 500 million litres to meet its target of adding 10 per cent SAF to its fuel mix by 2030.

Qantas Group chief sustainability officer Andrew Parker said the early project funding was an important first step towards building a domestic SAF industry, which will power flights around Australia.

“Qantas will be the largest single customer for Australianmade SAF to meet our emissions reduction targets, which is why we’re investing in the ideas and technology that will build a local SAF industry,” Mr Parker said.

“This is one of several projects that we are looking to fund this year, all of which will help accelerate the decarbonisation of the aviation industry.”

Airbus executive vice president of corporate affairs and sustainability Julie Kitcher said that all Airbus aircraft were already capable of flying with a SAF blend of up to 50 per cent.