Cooking Oil-Powered Plane to Fly Tourists to Antarctica
Imagine flying from South Africa to Antarctica, one of the most remote places on Earth. Then visualize making the journey on a jet powered, partially, by fuel made from left-over cooking oil. That’s from a headline today on Business Insider Africa, which says that White Desert, a luxury-tourism company, will soon operate flights between Cape Town and South Africa with jet fuel supplied by Sasol,…
South African energy firm Sasol plans to power an Airbus A340-600 flight from Cape Town to Antarctica with a blend of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) made from used cooking oil. Luxury tourism company White Desert will offer these carbon-reduced flights for prices ranging from $16,500 to $120,000 per passenger. Only around 5,000-6,000 people visit Antarctica annually, most of them scientists, researchers, and support staff.
The journey would involve flying to a gateway city like Buenos Aires or Punta Arenas, followed by a short charter flight to reach the Antarctic Peninsula. While SAF is cleaner than conventional jet fuel, the aircraft's emissions will still contribute to overall environmental impact. Sasol is the first company to use domestically-produced SAF, which is created by processing renewable materials like used cooking oil alongside traditional feedstock.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) permits aircraft to use up to 50% SAF blended with regular jet fuel. However, SAF production remains limited due to higher costs compared to conventional jet fuel.
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