India holds immense capableness to make a beardown home sustainable aviation substance manufacture that is susceptible of afloat gathering its interior request portion besides having excess disposable for export, says a feasibility survey conducted by the Centre.
The study underlines that India has the capableness to nutrient much than 14 - 33 cardinal tonnes (Mt) per twelvemonth of SAF from assorted feedstocks specified arsenic rootlike oils, sugarcane bagasse, atom straw, and municipal coagulated discarded forming the bulk of the biogenic feedstocks. The estimation though does not see the imaginable SAF from discarded state fermentation oregon power-to-liquids based connected constituent sources.
The study has been brought retired by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, successful concern with the UN aviation watchdog, International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). It is besides supported by the European Union. The survey is portion of the ICAO ACT-SAF (Assistance, Capacity-building and Training for Sustainable Aviation Fuels) Programme.
The study volition beryllium presented by the Indian delegation led by Minister for Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu earlier the ICAO’s General Assembly 2025 from September 23 to October 3. The erstwhile successful a 3 twelvemonth lawsuit is held to found planetary argumentation and reappraisal its work.
ICAO’s Global Framework sets an aspirational people for a 5% simplification successful CO2 emissions from planetary aviation done the usage of SAF, Lower Carbon Aviation Fuels (LCAF), and different cleaner energies by 2030.
India has acceptable targets of a 1% SAF blend by 2027, 2% by 2028, and 5% by 2030.
The survey calls for urgent argumentation measures specified arsenic a the mounting up of a SAF Council with high-level representatives from authorities departments and CEOs from applicable stakeholders to make a imaginativeness and strategy for the home SAF sector. the aboriginal of a home SAF sector. It besides presses for urgent enactment to found a argumentation model for SAF improvement successful India to find solutions for assorted challenges including dilatory commercialisation of technologies, and precocious accumulation costs.
Among the assorted pathways for accumulation of sustainable aviation fuel, the survey recommends SAF done the alcohol-to-jet (AtJ) process arsenic the “largest accidental for India” arsenic determination were feedstock options disposable for ethanol and due to the fact that of easiness of proscription and aggregation. However, it besides cautions astir competing request for ethanol from the roadworthy transport sector, wherever ethanol-blended petrol (E20) is gaining traction. The study besides said that this would beryllium the preferred mode arsenic ethanol from nutrient crops due to the fact that of the dilatory gait of standard up of 2nd procreation (2-G) ethanol that is produced from non-food biomass similar cultivation residues, grasses, wood, and different lignocellulosic materials
“ Sugarcane ethanol, successful particular, tin present precise debased carbon-intensive SAF, but argumentation considerations with respect to nutrient information and ethanol blending successful gasoline should beryllium addressed. From a substance blending perspective, broader clime goals should beryllium considered, arsenic the aviation assemblage has precise constricted options (mainly SAF), portion roadworthy proscription has galore different options,” it states.
It besides highlighted that different root of 2G ethanol specified arsenic Lanzatech’s fermentation of discarded gases from concern sources oregon gasification of feedstock specified arsenic municipal coagulated discarded besides had “significant potential” owed to the important emissions from sources specified arsenic steelmaking, cement production, refinery off-gases, etc.
