The findings of the world’s inaugural in-flight investigation into the effects of utilizing 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) on the engines of a commercial aircraft demonstrate a decrease in soot particles and the development of contrail ice crystals when compared to the use of traditional Jet A-1 fuel. The ECLIF3 study, a collaborative effort between Airbus, Rolls-Royce, the German Aerospace Center (DLR), and SAF producer Neste, marked the first instance of quantifying the impact of employing 100% SAF on emissions from both engines of an Airbus A350 equipped with Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines, with a DLR chase plane in pursuit.
In comparison to a standard Jet A-1 fuel, the consumption of unblended SAF resulted in a 56% decrease in the number of contrail ice crystals per unit mass. This reduction has the potential to greatly mitigate the warming effect caused by contrails. DLR conducted global climate model simulations to assess the radiative forcing, or change in energy balance, caused by contrails in Earth’s atmosphere. The use of 100% SAF was found to reduce the impact of contrails by at least 26% when compared to contrails formed by the Jet A-1 reference fuel used in ECLIF3.
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