Taking to the skies

Although demand for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is expected to experience significant growth1, production is currently limited with only a handful of commercial plants available today.
bp believes that producing SAF through co-processing at existing refineries will help the aviation sector as it transitions to a low-carbon industry and builds dedicated and more efficient standalone units for SAF production.
Today, existing refineries can be used to co-process 5% approved renewable feedstocks alongside the crude oil streams to meet the requirements of the industry jet fuel standard ASTM D1655.
bp’s Lingen refinery in Germany is already being used to produce SAF through co-processing.
Alternatively, SAF2 produced in standalone units (which are not currently widely available) would meet ASTM D7566 - the standard specification for aviation turbine fuel containing synthesised hydrocarbons.
This is then blended with up to 50% conventional jet fuel and certified as ASTM D1655. Encouragingly, ASTM is also supporting the development of specifications for 100% SAF.

Main advantages

The advantage of...