IndiGo Teams Up with CSIR-IIP to Produce Sustainable Aviation Fuel

IndiGo has signed an agreement with Dehradun-based Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Indian Institute of Petroleum (CSIR-IIP) to manufacture and deploy sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) globally, the airliner said on Wednesday.

As per global airlines body IATA, SAF is defined as “fuel that has the potential to generate lower carbon emissions than conventional kerosene on a life cycle basis”.

In the statement, Ronojoy Dutta, chief executive officer of IndiGo, said, “We have partnered with CSIR-IIP to ensure that we are working towards controlling emissions, and in the process, building supply chains for manufacturing and deploying sustainable aviation fuel in India and globally in the foreseeable future.”

The carrier said it desired to be an anchor partner to such institutes and oil refining companies in the future to address the core issue of carbon emissions, and take a lead in demonstrating its commitment towards sustainable and responsible growth.

Commercial aviation is responsible for about two to three per cent of the global carbon emissions. Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has given up flying to reduce her personal carbon footprint, boosting the “flight shame” movement in Europe and other parts of the world.

IndiGo had announced on July 30 that it is exploring the potential of using SAF in aircraft, and that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with an international SAF provider.

However, the carrier did not reveal the name of the SAF provider.

IndiGo had said it knows that the SAF is not in mass production currently and its commercial utilisation is still a few years away.

The Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP), established in 1960, is one of the constituent laboratories of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), dedicated to R&D in the hydrocarbon sector. Established through an act of parliament in the year 1959, it started in New Delhi in 1960 and finally in Dehradun since 1963. It sought organisational help from Institut français du pétrole (IFP), France, a petroleum research organisation, under UNESCO programme during 1960 to 1964.