The aviation sector is dedicated to reducing carbon emissions, but with the amount of air travel expected to triple by 2050, alternative energies like electric and hydrogen will not be sufficient to meet the challenge. Instead, airlines and airports should upgrade their air traffic management systems, and the sector should invest in sustainable aviation fuel.
SAF is a biofuel having characteristics akin to those of regular jet fuel but with a lower carbon footprint. The research group has also suggested that the government offer investment support to persuade oil marketing businesses to create SAF in order to increase the production of this fuel.
Nobody believes that the aviation sector will be able to reach its goal of net-zero carbon emissions by the middle of the century.
In fact, some claim that it isn't moving quickly enough and some contend that a frenzy of investments in new technology, rather than moving quickly enough to address the global climate catastrophe
A record number of new SAF offtake agreements are being signed by airlines. In recent months, suppliers including Gevo, Shell, and Austria's OMV have signed contracts with Alaska Airlines, Japan Airlines, Lufthansa, and Ryanair. The goal is to achieve multiple objectives, including seeming "green" in the public's views, as well as a legal goal to fulfil emissions reduction targets and, in the case of Europe, to meet minimum SAF requirements that are anticipated to start in 2025. However, despite all the new agreements, only two businesses, Neste and World Energy, are now producing SAF at scale, and volumes represent only a small percentage of total production.
A very small percentage of the world's aviation fuel is used by Neste and World Energy.
The cost of SAF is obviously a problem because it is scarce and costs more than twice as much as conventional jet fuel. According to data from 2019, SAF made up just 0.1 percent of the world's jet fuel use, well short of the 2 percent objective set by the year 2025.
All Nippon Airways (ANA), a Japanese airline, has begun using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) that is generated in large quantities on its domestic flights.
WestJet made a three-month commitment to use Neste-provided sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
Every year, Qatar Airways will buy 5 million US gallons of clean SAF to combine with its current supply of regular jet fuel.
In order to encourage the use of SAF on commercial flights in China, Airbus disclosed that it has signed agreements with Xiamen Airlines, Zhejiang Loong Airlines, and Colorful Guizhou Airlines.
British Airways is also looking for finance for large-scale, environmentally friendly aircraft fuel production in the UK.
Even with 30 offtake agreements signed this year, airlines and current or future SAF producers alike will not be able to keep pace with demand in the near term. That doesn’t mean both aren’t trying.Gevo Inc., Aemetis, World Fuels, Neste and others have publicly stated that the volume potential for SAF in the years ahead is massive—in the billions of gallons per year range.