Latest Boeing EcoDemonstrator Jet Assesses Impact of SAF Use on Contrails | Aviation International News

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Sustainability and Environment

Latest Boeing EcoDemonstrator Studies Tackle SAF’s Contrail Effects

Researchers are encouraged by early findings on a Boeing 737 Max 10 airliner

Boeing 737 Max 10 Ecodemonstrator followed by a NASA DC-8 Airborne Science Lab — The Boeing 737 Max 10 EcoDemonstrator followed by NASA's DC-8 Airborne Science Lab participate in the latest studies on the effects of SAF on contrail production. (Photo: Boeing)

By Gregory Polek • Senior Editor

November 5, 2023

While estimates of the extent to which the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) reduces CO2 emissions in aircraft can vary, aerospace manufacturers generally cite an 80 percent lifecycle carbon emissions benefit for 100 percent SAF. Scientists know less about how the contrails produced by SAF emissions differ from those generated by kerosene, however, prompting Boeing to partner with United Airlines and NASA to study the phenomenon with its latest EcoDemonstrator aircraft.

Contrails, or the persistent condensation trails produced when airplanes fly through cold, humid air, can trap heat in the atmosphere, some of the latest research suggests. To learn more, Boeing in early October began flying a CFM Leap-1B-powered 737 Max 10 destined for United Airlines on 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and conventional fuel in separate tanks, alternating the fuels during testing. Studying multiple fuels with the same engine allows researchers to differentiate the emissions reductions resulting from advanced engine technology from those resulting from advanced jet fuel chemistry.

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