CAAC Awards Bio-jet Fuel Airworthiness Certificate to Sinopec

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has awarded an airworthiness certificate to Sinopec Zhenhai Refinery of China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) for its bio-jet fuel.

Produced with used cooking oil, Sinopec will deliver the first batch of the bio-jet fuel to the Airbus (China) Tianjin plant this month.

The fuel will be later used for flights across China in what is said to be the first time that bio-jet fuel produced on such a large scale will meet the needs of the country’s aviation sector.

Sinopec Zhenhai Refinery CEO Mo Dingge said: “With the airworthiness certificate, Sinopec Zhenhai Refinery can now sell bio-jet fuel to the entire civil aviation market. We will continue to expand the market and supply chain to build a full industry chain of bio-jet fuel.

With this certificate, Sinopec will be able to sell its bio-jet fuel to aviation operators across the country.

The bio-jet fuel will be produced at Sinopec’s Zhenhai Refinery in Zhejiang province with a processing capacity of 100,000tpa

This refinery incorporates Sinopec’s bio-jet fuel production technology to produce the fuel.

It is said to have produced nearly 600t of bio-jet fuel in June.

The company said that its refinery has already received RSB sustainable aviation fuel certification issued by Scientific Certification Systems, which allows the company to sell its bio-jet fuel in the international market.

Sinopec, in a statement, said: “Compared to traditional petroleum-based aviation kerosene, bio-jet fuel can reduce carbon emissions by up to 50% throughout the entire lifecycle.”

In April, Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways said that it would roll out a pilot corporate sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) programme in Asia.

With the global promotion of a low-carbon economy and a green environment, new energy propulsion technology has become an important development direction for the world's aviation power systems. In response to the global warming crisis, seven aviation manufacturers have pledged to support the aviation industry's ambitious goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 through the development of new aircraft and propulsion systems. For them, the development of new energy power and electric aircraft is one of the most reliable ways to achieve this goal, not only out of concern for mankind in terms of the environment, but also as a strategy to deal with today's rising fuel costs, oil stocks and other crisis.

New energy aircraft will inevitably lead to a revolution in the top-level design of aircraft. However, solutions such as novel fuels, high density and lightweight batteries remain challenges in the overall design of current aircraft. At present, it seems that new fuels, hybrids power, electric propulsion systems, high-density batteries, the safety and product application of autonomous flight control are the future focus of the aviation electric aircraft industry.

China has always been committed to the development of green energy and related technologies. The next-generation new energy aircraft is still in the early stage of development, but has broad prospects and a bright future. Taking this opportunity, the 2022 New Energy Aviation International Forum is scheduled to be held in Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province on November 6^th - 7^th. At that time, it is expected that more than 200 leaders and experts in the industry from domestic and abroad will participate in the event and share the cutting-edge trends of the new energy aircraft industry. They are committed to provide possible solutions for the existing problems in the electric aircraft industry and to achieve energy-saving and green development of the aviation industry.

Register your interest or get in touch with marketing@galleon.cc for more details.