Milestone for Sustainable Aviation Fuel as jet fuel from ethanol is now eligible for commercial flights

Standards body ASTM completes revision of standard specification for jet fuels.

The standards setting body ASTM International has added ethanol as an approved feedstock for the production of jet fuels, having passed all the required aircraft and engine Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) tests.

The revision comes after a research report, led by the fuel company LanzaTech was submitted to ASTM International containing data which measured ethanol based Alcohol-to-jet fuel produced using the technology originally developed by the Pacific Northwest National Lab (PNNL) and scaled up by LanzaTech.

The report demonstrated that the fuel meets all fit-for-purpose properties including when blended at the 50% level with conventional jet fuel. This means that LanzaTech’s ethanol based fuel will be eligible for use as a blending component with standard Jet A/Jet A1 for commercial airline use in the United States and in most countries around the globe. It will also be eligible to be used up to a 50% blend in conventional jet fuel for commercial flights.

KTN is pleased to be supporting LanzaTech with their journey. If you want to know more about the aviation fuel certification process and where to get support in the UK, contact the team and watch this space for a new Sustainable Aviation Fuel UK Landscape tool.