Sceptics’ airport ‘green’ fuel concern

Concerns have been raised by anti-Gatwick expansion campaigners over the storage and use of ‘green’ fuels at the airport.

Communities Against GatwickNoiseandEmissions– CAGNE–saidthereappearedto be‘littleprovisionforsuchfuels to be stored within Gatwick’s boundary.’

And, they maintained, the type of green fuel being used still causes pollution.

They spoke out after an easyJet flight took off on Tuesdayonthefirstflightfrom Gatwick to use sustainable aviation fuel.

A CAGNE spokesman said: “This sustainable fuel used by easyJet, just 30 per cent of the totalfuelusedfortheflight,still releases harmful emissions into the atmosphere.”

But a Gatwick Airport spokesman said sustainable aviation fuel – SAF – did not need to be stored separately at the airport. They said: “SAF is a ‘drop-in’ fuel, ie blended and fully certified upstream of airports for use in existing aircraft and infrastructure, including the pipelines and fuel storage facilities already at Gatwick. It is therefore an important solution helping the aviation industry toward its goal of reaching net zero emissions.

“We recognise that introducinga30percentblend of SAF on a select number of easyJet flights to Glasgow is just a small start, however with smart government policy to underpin investment in cost competitive UK SAF production,manymoreflights could be using UK produced SAF by the mid-2020s.

“Amaximumblendof50per cent is currently certified for use by airlines, however this proportion is likely to increase over time as aircraft engine manufacturers are already testing 100 per cent SAF use.”