British Airways owner the IAG has announced its biggest-ever deal to purchase sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from a US-based producer.
Under a fourteen-year contract, California-based Twelve will supply the IAG with 785,000 tonnes of e-SAF to support its five European airlines – British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Vueling and Level.
The IAG has committed to 10 per cent SAF use by 2030 and said the deal takes the supply needed to one-third of the target.
The sum of the deal was not disclosed.
Deliveries of the sustainable biofuels will commence as early as 2025. The agreement is the first e-SAF deal announced by a European airline and means the IAG has now bought approximately 12 per cent of the world’s supply in 2023.
The group announced an investment in July into Teeside-based cleantech firm Novea Pangaea.
Twelve, based in Berkeley, California, works in carbon transformation and develops synthetic fuels from renewable electricity and CO2.
Luis Gallego, IAG’s CEO said: “We have a roadmap to achieve net zero by 2050 including a target to
fly with 10 per cent Sustainable Aviation Fuel by 2030. The shortage of sustainable fuel globally continues to be a problem for our industry although innovative companies like Twelve are an important part of
the solution.
“This new deal will contribute towards our 2030 SAF target. We would like to see similar projects
scale in Europe, and we look forward to working with governments across our key markets to build a
SAF industry to deliver jobs, economic growth and a stable supply of SAF.”
Nicholas Flanders, Twelve’s Co-Founder and CEO said: “We are proud to partner with IAG on this
historic deal to advance sustainable aviation with our e-SAF that has up to 90 per cent lower emissions than conventional jet fuel.”