Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock

China’s largest oil refiner China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) produced its first batch of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from used cooking oil (UCO) at its facility in the east of the country, Reuters reported.

The 100,000 tonnes/year Sinopec Zhenhai Refining & Chemical Co facility paved the way for industrial-scale SAF production, the 28 June report said.

Sinopec started developing SAF in 2009 and was awarded the country’s first airworthiness certificate for the fuel in 2014, Reuters wrote.

Global demand for SAF is forecast to range between 2bn-6bn litres/year by 2026, according to forecasts made by the International Energy Agency (IEA) last year, when the total was 0.1bn litres/year.