World first in the Netherlands by KLM, Shell and Dutch ministry for Infrastructure and Water Management: first passenger flight performed with sustainable synthetic kerosene

New initiatives and startups

During the conference, the stage was set for various new initiatives and startups. For example, the start-up Synkero announced that it is collaborating with Port of Amsterdam, Schiphol, KLM and SkyNRG on the realization of a commercial synthetic sustainable kerosene factory in the Amsterdam port. The project seeks to link with sustainable initiatives in the North Sea Canal area, such as the establishment of a 100 megawatt hydrogen plant where up to 15,000 tons of green hydrogen can be produced with sustainable electricity.

Another initiative is the construction of a demonstration factory for sustainable kerosene using captured CO₂ from the air as a raw material in Rotterdam. The Zenid initiative, in which Uniper, Rotterdam The Hague Airport, Climeworks, SkyNRG and Rotterdam The Hague Innovation Airport are participating, uses a combination of innovative technologies to focus on CO₂-neutral aviation with sustainable synthetic kerosene.

Several European politicians, including Commissioner Timmermans, the German transport minister Scheuer and his French colleague Djebbari, underlined the importance of developing sustainably produced aviation fuels to reduce CO₂ emissions and give aviation a good future.

Various European member states have indicated during the conference that they want to work on this. In a joint statement, the Netherlands, France, Sweden, Germany, Finland, Luxembourg and Spain indicate that recovery from the current crisis due to the pandemic must go hand in hand with accelerating the sustainability of the aviation sector in order to achieve climate goals and call on the European Commission to come up with a European blending obligation. The Member States view the development of sustainable synthetic kerosene in addition to sustainable biokerosene as one of the most promising and effective ways to reduce aviation emissions in the coming decades.