Aviation fuel supplier TotalEnergies has become the first company in France to provide a permanent supply of SAF to a French airport. The 30 per cent biofuel blend will serve demand at Paris Le Bourget airport from local customers, primarily business, stop over and based aircraft. In addition, a pure-electric refuelling truck will be used, contributing to an even broader decarbonisation of ground operations.

The SAF is produced at the company's sites near Marseille and Le Havre from used cooking oil. It reduces lifecycle CO₂ emissions by up to 90 per cent compared with a fossil equivalent. Blended at 30 per cent with conventional aviation fuel, this SAF has similar technical properties as Jet-A1 and does not require any modifications to aircraft, logistics infrastructure or refuelling operations.

“The development of sustainable aviation fuel is one of the strategic paths being pursued by TotalEnergies to achieve its ambition of getting to net zero by 2050,” says TotalEnergies Aviation president Joël Navaron. “We are proud to be able to provide our customers with sustainable aviation fuel as of today, with a 30 per cent biofuel blend at Paris-Le Bourget airport that will help them reduce their own carbon footprint. As a broad energy company, we are supporting our aviation customers by deploying increasingly decarbonised solutions. These include SAF and the gradual renewal of our refuelling truck fleet with hybrid and pure-electric vehicles.”

TotalEnergies Aviation's pure electric refuelling truck can be plugged into a regular 32A three phase socket, with no need for a dedicated charging station. The chargers are on board for easier mobility. The 30 kW to 300 kW batteries (depending on the desired driving range) can be recharged at night, or when the vehicle returns to the depot between refuelling operations.