Antarctica Flights Go Sustainable with Cooking Oil-Powered Jets

South Africa's White Desert luxury-tourism company is set to operate flights between Cape Town and Antarctica using jet fuel made from leftover cooking oil.

The company will be sourcing the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from Sasol, a South African energy and chemicals firm that has secured international sustainability certification for its Natref refinery.

Natref has the capacity to process 108,500 barrels of crude oil per day, making it South Africa's only inland refinery. The company's SAF is made by blending renewable materials, including used cooking and vegetable oils, with conventional feedstock.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) says that over 360,000 commercial flights have used SAF at 46 airports globally, mostly in the US and Europe. Companies like World Energy and Neste supply these lower-emission fuels to airlines such as United, KLM, and Delta.