IAG, Microsoft sign SAF deal targeting Scope 3 emissions

International Airlines Group (IAG) and Microsoft have announced a significant expansion of their partnership, marking the largest and longest Scope 3 sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) agreement to date between an airline and a corporate customer.

This extended five-year agreement will see Microsoft co-fund an additional 39,000 tonnes of SAF.

“We’re pleased to work with like-minded organisations such as Microsoft to expand efforts to reduce flying lifecycle emissions,” stated Jonathon Counsell, IAG’s group sustainability officer. “Long-term agreements help encourage much-needed funding in SAF production, something that IAG is championing through our investment in global SAF projects such as LanzaJet.”

Microsoft’s contribution will also support IAG airlines in reducing emissions associated with shipping data center components, working in conjunction with Microsoft’s freight forwarders.

“We are taking our collaboration with IAG further, extending our SAF purchase agreement to bring Microsoft closer to our goal, while ensuring a multi-year commitment to help drive greater SAF production. We are pleased to work alongside IAG on efforts to increase demand and make SAF more widely available through our shared long-term purchase agreement,” said Julia Fidler, environmental sustainability fuel and materials decarbonization lead at Microsoft.

The SAF used in this agreement will be produced from used cooking oil and food waste at Phillips 66’s Humberside refinery in the UK, and from sustainably-sourced bioethanol at LanzaJet’s Freedom Pines Fuels facility in Georgia, USA.

Both fuels are certified by the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC).

IAG has committed over $3.5bn to SAF, including future offtake agreements, and aims to achieve 1.9% SAF usage in its total fuel consumption by the end of 2024.

Meanwhile, Microsoft’s $1bn Climate Innovation Fund has previously invested in LanzaJet.