‘Breakthrough moment’: Flight powered by used cooking oil completed in the UK

A flight powered by used cooking oil has been completed in the United Kingdom.

The Royal Air Force (RAF) Voyager flew over Oxfordshire, England earlier this month, marking the world’s first 100% sustainable fuel flight “using a military aircraft of its size, and the first of any aircraft type in the United Kingdom.” It was made possible with the help of a flight test crew from RAF, Rolls-Royce, and Airbus. 

The sustainable aviation fuel used in the flight contains waste-based sustainable feedstocks like used cooking oil, bringing down carbon emissions by up to 80%.

For RAF, this recent feat, which lasted for 90 minutes, made its potential evident in terms of the fuel’s “future operational capability, ensuring the ability to contribute to UK defense wherever and whenever required.” 

Defense minister Baroness Goldie called the voyage a “breakthrough moment.”

“They (RAF) should be rightly proud of this achievement. It is a breakthrough moment for the RAF and an exciting development for the Ministry of Defense,” Goldie said, adding that its “pioneering spirit” put the spotlight on how British science and engineering was “leading the way” in a “climate-changed world.” 

For his part, Baroness Vere, the Aviation Minister at the Department for Transport, described it as “a win for the planet and a testament to British ingenuity.”

After pointing out how climate change “threatens our resilience, our security, and our collective prosperity,” Air Chief Marshal Mike Wigston shared that their strategy when it comes to powering their aircraft could help them meet their net-zero goal. “The way we power our aircraft will be key to meeting that challenge and the RAF is already thinking about how we will operate beyond fossil fuels," he said.