The non-governmental organization Transport & Environment (T&E), specialized in the transport and environment sectors and which promotes sustainable transport in Europe, has published a new study which denounces how aviation biofuel produced from animal fats is unsustainable from an environmental point of view. The alarm is sounded because this use has doubled in 10 years and is 40 times higher than in 2006.

"For a flight from Paris to New York, up to 8800 dead pigs could be needed in the future. This would be the quantity of pigs necessary to obtain the animal fats with which to produce the fuel useful for that flight route, in the case of a flight fueled at 100% % from biodiesel. If animal fats were to become the main raw material to produce Sustainable Aviation Fuels (Saf), their use in Europe will become unsustainable", according to T&E.

Italy employs about 50% of the entire European stock of these waste raw materials and is the main user of animal fats in the production of biodiesel: about 440,000 tons refined in 2021 alone. Brussels has promoted their use to reduce the environmental impact of traditional fuels. However, according to the study, by 2030 the consumption of animal fats, which are scarce and difficult to replace, could triple to produce biodiesel.