Overview
ITAKA project is expected to support the development of aviation biofuels in an economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable manner, improving the readiness of existing technology and infrastructures. This will be achieved through the first of its kind collaborative project in the EU, that will develop a full value-chain in Europe to produce sustainable drop-in Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids at large scale enough (4,000 t) to allow testing its use in existing logistic systems and in normal flight operations in the EU.
ITAKA will link supply and demand by establishing a relationship under specific conditions between feedstock grower, biofuel producer, distributor and final user (airlines).
Sustainability, competitiveness and technology assessments will be carried out, studying economic, social and regulatory implications of large-scale use. The generated knowledge will aim to identify and address barriers to innovation and commercial deployment.
In order to achieve this in the most efficient way ITAKA will target camelina oil as the best possible sustainable feedstock that can be produced timely at enough quantity within Europe. Used cooking oil (UCO) will also be considered as an alternative feedstock. The bio fuel sustainability will be assessed against the RSB EU RED Standard.
Beyond this technological and research objectives, ITAKA is also willing to contribute to the achievement of a further EU objective: the need to coordinate efforts and complementarities among European Initiatives on sustainable aviation fuels, as highlighted during the Flight Path definition and identified in SWAFEA recommendations: Setting up a knowledge and test capability network within the EU to provide an EU based fuel evaluation capability. ITAKA has been built aiming to engage key stakeholders and to make a first significant step in the establishment of such a European network.