The Ministry of Defence’s changed aviation fuel standards will allow aircraft to use up to 50 per cent sustainable fuel sources.

MOD aircraft such as F-35s, Typhoons and Wildcat helicopters currently use conventional fuel, with aviation accounting for nearly two thirds of fuel used across defence.
The new standards could lead to a significant reduction in emissions and improve defence’s carbon footprint, allowing for the use of 50 per cent sustainable fuel sources known as ‘drop-ins’ including hydrogenated fats and oils, wood waste, alcohols, sugars, household waste, biomass and algae.
It is estimated that by substituting 30 per cent of conventional fuel with an alternative source in a jet travelling 1,000 nautical miles could reduce CO2 emissions by 18 per cent. The move has been described as marking a ‘huge shift’ in global fuel consumption and opens the door for thousands of civilian and military aircraft to be fuelled with Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs).
As well as cutting emissions, using diverse and readily available materials such as household waste including packaging, grass cuttings and food scraps will prevent waste being sent to landfill.
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“The UK is leading the way in sustainability and by refining our aviation fuel standards we are taking simple yet effective steps to reduce the environmental footprint of defence,” said Defence secretary Ben Wallace. “As we strive to meet this government’s net zero carbon emissions target by 2050, it is right that we step up to spearhead these positive changes across both military and civilian sectors.”
Australia and several NATO countries are said to rely on the UK’s standards to influence what fuel they use, and commercial airlines in the UK also follow the defence standard as there is no commercial equivalent.
UK suppliers are also more likely to offer the same standard for commercial aircraft if they are already developing and importing sustainable fuel to supply defence.
The Compania Logistica de Hidrocarburos-Pipeline System (CLH-PHS), based in Madrid, provides fuel to several military airfields including Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester airports and has welcomed the MOD’s new standards.
Lieutenant General Richard Wardlaw OBE, chief Defence Logistics and Support, said: “With the Defence Climate Change and Sustainability Strategy, due for release later this year, we are at the start of a journey to adopt a range of greener policies and new greener technologies, so that we can reduce our environmental impact while enhancing our operational capabilities.”
The green lobby seem to have convinced the military of the need for reduced aviation based emissions. They will be pushing for noise reductions in war zones next.This all raises worrying questions about fuel supply, logistics and fuel standards and the ability to fight a sustained land, sea and air war relying on renewables.
Why does defence need a sustainability and climate change agenda? It needs to be effective, efficient , responsive and reliable. Green fuel sources suggest this position could be undermined.
Can I point out that the quoted ‘sustainable’ fuel sources carry an environmental impact and would need to be ‘processed’ before they could be used ?
Would be more environmentally friendly and greener to cut back on war making activities and concentrate on real defence of the UK – ie. where it’s actually needed as opposed to adventures overseas.
I hope the sustainable fuels do not include bio diesel. The use of bio diesel is helping to drive the expansion of palm oil plantations, which is causing deforestation of the rain forest.
Fossil free aviation hydrocarbon fuel can be manufactured by the well known tried and tested Fischer – Tropsch process by sucking CO2 out of the air and combining it with green hydrogen and electricity to produce hydrocarbons for fuels. It is just a question of scaling-up this technology to make fuels for difficult to fossil decarbonise equipment like aviation, as well as changing the jet engines to ones that can burn hydrogen. All this will be more expensive than fossil based fuels until a rising carbon tax brings parity.
So………where’s the catch?