Flying on frying fat: KLM to invest in sustainable kerosene

Flying on frying fat: KLM to invest in sustainable kerosene
Kerosene will be produced from, among other things, old deep-frying fat and other vegetable oil. Credit: Spill Control Centre

The Dutch airline KLM has announced that it will invest in a new factory to produce sustainable kerosene-based on old deep-frying fat and other vegetable oil.

To achieve this, KLM will join forces with the company SkyNRG, who will operate the factory. The total investment in the factory amounts to approximately 260 million euros, reports HLN.

The factory, which should be operational from 2022, will produce kerosene from, among other things, old deep-frying fat and other vegetable oil. These will be processed into synthetic kerosene, which provides a CO2 reduction of 85% compared to fossil kerosene, and should reduce the emission of particulate matter by approximately 90%, according to reports.

"What we are going to buy from this factory is about 2% of what we consume annually," said KLM CEO Pieter Elbers. According to Elbers, the 75,000 tonnes of sustainable kerosene that KLM buys each year accounts for a thousand flights from Schiphol to Rio de Janeiro and back.

Prices for the consumers should not be impacted by the change, despite sustainable fuel being more expensive than ordinary kerosene. "Emitting CO2 also costs money. That's what we're saving now," said Elbers.

Jules Johnston

The Brussels Times


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