The Future of Green Aviation: Exploring Sustainable Aviation Fuel Programmes

The aviation industry has always been a good illustration of what people call “the march of progress,” affecting the world and its cultures profoundly by the familial connections that air travel makes possible. But the industry’s environmental impact—particularly its carbon emissions—poses a serious problem for the industry’s sustainability. One promising solution gaining traction is sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which is conceptually a cleaner alternative to traditional jet fuels. We now turn to the sustainable aviation fuel programmes themselves, diving into the specifics and their transformative potential for aviation.

What Is Sustainable Aviation Fuel?

Renewable resources like cooking oil, agricultural leftovers, or even algae, are the sources of sustainable aviation fuel. When you look at the total emissions from SAF, its use cuts emissions by a whopping 80% in some cases—carbon emissions when an aircraft uses SAF are reduced by 80% compared to when it uses conventional jet fuel. Airlines and aviation authorities around the world are using SAF, either in a blend or in its pure form, to begin the process of transformation to an aviation system that is “net-zero” in terms of carbon emissions.

Leading SAF Programmes Around the World

The Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge of the U.S. Federal Government seeks to produce by 2030 an annual quantity of 3 billion gallons of SAF. This program works with the private sector and in “partnerships” to develop SAF solutions that can be produced in a scalable way. In Europe, plans like the “ReFuelEU Aviation” policy mandate that a use quantity of SAF be blended with the jet fuel used at EU airports. Ensuring that aviation SAF is available at EU airports seems like an easy win. Countries like Japan and Australia, whose governments are also keen to see the aviation industry dramatically reduce its local carbon footprint, are teaching us that SAF can be produced locally in a way that contributes to a national sustainability agenda.

Why SAF Matters to Airlines and Passengers

SAF is not merely an environmental necessity; it also constitutes a business opportunity. When airlines pour revenue into SAF, they signal something potentially very attractive to the consumer: sustainability. Compared to the aviation industry as a whole, the airlines investing in SAF may appeal to a considerable slice of the traveller market that prefers to spend with companies committed to not screwing over the Earth. Programmatic solutions that make SAF more accessible and its adoption easier—like CarbonClick’s SAF Program for Airlines—are in no way just PR moves or feel-good opportunities for airlines. They are, quite literally, line items on a balance sheet. And if they help shriek the SAF’s accessibility and ease-of-use to net-friendly airlines, then I’m all for it.

Challenges and the Road Ahead

Although sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is very much a fuel of the future, the Sustainable Energy for Aviation Fuel Coalition indicates that SAF is not yet deployed on a large scale anywhere in the world. The International Renewable Energy Agency estimates that the potentially accessible renewable energy resource far exceeds current aviation fuel demand; however, that potential has not been translated into production, let alone into the type of large-scale deployment that is truly ‘safe’ for the climate. By 2030, we require over 30 million metric tons per year.

The future of air travel is being molded by sustainable aviation fuel. The SAF is not so much a fuel of the future as it is a fuel of now. International civil aviation in 2008 made its first commitment to addressing climate change when the industry’s chief associations agreed on a set of principles that became the basis for developments within the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. By 2016, the sector was stringing together additional promises when it signed up to the “CAP” (the “Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation”)—a key part of the “Sustainable Development Goals” that signatories must comply with when hosting international conferences.