Lufthansa to make first CO2 neutral flight
German airline Lufthansa says it will become the first airline to operate a CO2 neutral cargo flight over this weekend.
The carrier said on Friday (November 27) the flight would be made possible by using so called Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) or biofuel.
Peter Gerber is the chairman of Lufthansa Cargo Group.
"A flight becomes CO2 neutral if, like in this case, it uses biofuel, which already includes CO2. We bought this biofuel and it was filled into the tank together with our partners and then the flight can take off."
However, Gerber isn’t expecting biofuel to become used more widely anytime soon because, he says, it's “between three and six times more expensive than conventional kerosine.”
Global oil demand has been crushed by the events of this year, with BP saying it might never recover to pre-crisis levels, leading to the closure of refineries.
That’s prompting some owners to opt for a cleaner alternative - converting plants to produce biofuels.
Europe's annual biofuel production capacity is currently 3 million tonnes, with Barclay’s analyst Joshua Stone predicting in October that is set increase to 8 million tonnes per year.
