Emirates Airlines has partnered with Shell Aviation for the supply of more than 300,000 gallons of sustainable aviation fuel at its Dubai hub. 

It aims to reduce carbon emissions and to mark the clean fuel that will be supplied through the Dubai International Airport fueling system for the first time. They were expecting the first delivery by end of this year 

Tim Clark, the Emirate’s President shared hope for an ongoing future supply of sustainable aviation fuel in the UAE, as there are currently no production facilities for that. This partnership highlights the airline’s commitment to reducing emissions and exposing solutions to show more sustainable aviation fuel in the industry. When working with like-minded organizations and government entities, Emirates aims to support its efforts in reducing emissions across its operations. 

Sustainable Aviation Fuel ( SAF ) is essential for the aviation industry to achieve its net-zero goal by 2050. It is derived from renewable resources and it is used to power aircraft by reducing carbon emissions. 

It plays an important role in transforming the industry towards a more sustainable future. By using SAF, airlines like Emirates are taking significant steps to lower their environmental impact and contribute to global climate goals. 

The adoption of SAF is a key strategy in reducing aviation and ensuring a greener and more sustainable future for airline travel. It is still in its early stages, but its potential impact is significant. The current challenges include small-scale production and higher costs when compared to conventional kerosene.

This strategy focuses on reducing emissions, providing responsible consumption, and protecting wildlife and habitats. The International Air Transport Association estimates that SAF contributes up to 65% of the emissions reduction that is needed for the aviation industry to cope with the net-zero emission target by the middle of the century. By prioritizing SAF, Emirates is actively participating in a greener future for aviation.

Under their agreement, Emirates will use Avelia, a blockchain-powered platform to track the delivery and usage data of sustainable fuel. Avelia was launched in June 2022 by Shell, Accenture, and American Express Global Business Travel. 

The Emirates will purchase the sustainable fuel and its related environmental attributes through Avelia. This will contribute to decarbonizing their Scope-1 emissions, which are directly related to their operating activities. 

Shell Corporate Travel will purchase the Scope-3 environmental attributes related to the same sustainable fuel to help decarbonise their business travel. Scope- 3 refers to other indirect greenhouse gas emissions. This is a very good initiative to see both Emirates and Shell taking major steps to reduce their environmental impacts across different aspects of their operations.

Chu Yong-Yi, the Vice President of Shell Corporate Travel said that the Emirates agreement with Shell Aviation is a step forward plan for the Aviation Industry.

“Enabling SAF to be supplied at DXB for the first time is an important milestone and a perfect example of how the different parts of the aviation value chain have a role to play in unlocking progress on SAF,” Mr Chu said.

“We hope that this can act as a springboard for more action on SAF across the aviation industry in the UAE and region, delivering another step forward for our net-zero emissions journey.”

In May, Emirates set aside $200 million to fund research and development projects that focused on advanced fuel technology that can reduce the impact on commercial aviation. 

In January, a Boeing 777-300ER plane flew for more than an hour over Dubai’s coastline, in which Emirates successfully completed a demonstration flight powered by SAF in one of two engines. 

In 2017, The Airline’s first flight powered by SAF blended with jet fuel – on a Boeing 777 that flew from Chicago. 

The flights from Stockholm to Dubai, Emirates fuelled with SAF blend flights and it also currently operates flights from Paris, Lyon, and Oslo with the blended SAF.