RAF Lossiemouth using sustainable aviation fuel

RAF Lossiemouth is using sustainable aviation fuel for routine operations.  Video credit: RAF Lossiemouth

Transcript

00:00Since we've had access to sustainable aviation fuel here at Lossiemouth we've conducted

00:05long-range NATO air policing sorties over in Eastern Europe reassuring our NATO partners

00:10and deterring Russia and also conducting quick reaction alert scrambles and training serials

00:16here from Lossiemouth. As the Royal Air Force our primary aim is defending the security of

00:21the United Kingdom and there are many security threats not least of course climate change

00:26and we absolutely have to fundamentally change the way we do our business in order to secure

00:32the environment and make sure that we can operate sustainably for the future. During November 23

00:39and March 24 we received around four million litres of fuel in various batches this is then

00:46mixed together in our current tanks and is used to complement our existing stocks of F-35.

00:52It's a really important step for us as we go down the road to net zero 2040 because by using the

01:00blend that we do about 35 percent of sustainable aviation fuel we can cut our carbon emissions by

01:07about 25 percent. In 20 years time we're going to look back and see 2024 as the year when we

01:16made that really significant step forward to a net zero future. Using sustainable aviation fuel is

01:24completely transparent to the pilot the immense performance of Typhoon is exactly the same with

01:30the SAF blended fuel as it is with ordinary traditional aviation fuel. For me it marks a

01:37really big important step forward and the fact that Royal Air Force Lossiemouth is able to take

01:43that step on behalf of the Royal Air Force is really exciting. Yeah so from a future fuels

01:50perspective what you'll probably see in the next coming years is that SAF will become much more

01:54commonplace not only within the RAF but also on a much wider global scale therefore I feel with

02:00this early adoption of SAF from the RAF it highlights to the British public the wider

02:06defence community and also our global partners that the RAF is determined and committed to being

02:12a trailblazer in making the world a more sustainable place in the future. Even though

02:18I'm early on in my own RAF career I believe that by the time I leave the military

02:23the use of SAF will be utilised as common daily practice and will become the norm throughout all

02:29RAF stations.