New Delhi: The SAF Association (SAFA) has urged the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to promote the use of used cooking oil (UCO) for producing sustainable aviation fuel as part of efforts to cut emissions in the aviation sector, The Hindu businessline reported.
The industry body said wider use of UCO could help accelerate the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which is considered a key solution for reducing carbon emissions from aviation. The sector currently accounts for about 2–3 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
SAFA has recommended that UCO be included under the Extended Producer Responsibility framework to encourage its collection and use in SAF production. It also called for stronger systems to collect used oil from restaurants, hotels, catering services and food processing units across India.
According to the association, collecting just 15 per cent of commercial UCO could enable the production of about 1.36 million tonnes of SAF annually. This would be more than enough to meet the country’s expected demand of around 0.8 million tonnes required for a five per cent SAF blending target by 2030.
The association also urged the government to fast-track the SAF mandate. India is expected to introduce a roadmap requiring one per cent SAF blending by 2027, two per cent by 2028 and five per cent by 2030.
SAFA said SAF can be produced using various feedstocks such as agricultural residues, municipal solid waste, algae, power-to-liquid fuels and waste lipids. Among these options, UCO is considered one of the fastest available feedstocks.
India consumes around 29 million tonnes of edible oil annually, according to NITI Aayog. About 40 per cent of this is used in commercial kitchens and the rest in households. However, estimates based on the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India RUCO framework suggest that only about six per cent of available used cooking oil is currently collected.
SAFA believes India has strong long-term potential to become a major global producer of sustainable aviation fuel. By 2050, the country could produce up to 40 million tonnes of SAF annually and contribute around five per cent of global demand.
Rohit Kumar, Secretary General of SAFA, said used cooking oil from households and commercial kitchens could become an important resource for powering cleaner aviation fuel in the future.
