One “drop-in” technology touted to slash emissions is SAF — an alternative to jet fuel made from non-petroleum feedstocks, hydrocarbons, and residues such as recycled cooking oil, animal fat waste, and even human excrement.
OEMs and engine manufacturers are designing the next generation of products to accommodate. The International Airlines Group claims to be on track to deliver a 100-fold increase in SAF volumes between 2022 and 2030 as well as use SAF for 70 percent of total fuel by 2050. Last year, Virgin Atlantic flew the world’s first 100 percent SAF flight from London to New York, and Kenya Airways became the first African airline to use SAF on an international flight.
As part of its carbon offset program, Sentient Jet aims: “for a 300 percent offset to cover aerosols, water vapours, and other environmental impacts from flights," Andrew Collins, co-CEO says. However, scarcity and sheer cost remain barriers to widespread adoption: “SAF is currently 3 times more expensive and infrastructure still needs to be developed, yet I'm optimistic. Similar to how the cost of solar panels dramatically decreased over a decade due to scaling, I expect SAF to follow a similar trajectory as demand increases and production scales up,” says Alexandre Feray, Founder & CEO, OpenAirlines.
Nathaniel Pieper, CEO of airline alliance oneworld, adds: “While the airline industry is often criticized for its emissions, we've moved past a victim mindset. Most major airlines are setting challenging, but ambitious sustainability goals like SAF adoption.” However, as Todd Borgmann, CEO, Calumet points out: “Balancing economic factors is crucial—we can't create more problems by making energy unaffordable. The U.S. government’s Grand Challenge aims for 3 billion gallons by 2030 and IATA has said that 60 percent of airline fuel needs to be sustainable by 2050, but right now, we’re at less than 0.1 percent.”
Even traditional petroleum fuel companies like Shell are getting in on the action by diversifying their offerings. According to Meijer, who recently announced Embraer’s collaborations with Avfuel and Brazilian energy company Raizen — Brazil could be well-positioned to become a major producer: “Brazil is the most developed country in terms of ethanol use for cars, a very green energy source. We aim to reduce aircraft fuel burn, with our E2s achieving up to a 30 percent reduction, and promote SAF to achieve net zero by 2050.”
While Canada holds a global reputation for its production and use of renewable green technologies, it’s been surprisingly slow on the SAF uptake. “The issue lies in the willingness to invest. If more stakeholders, including governments and oil companies, focused on increasing SAF production, we could see substantial emission reductions,” Éric Martel, president & CEO of Bombardier, tells us. Benoît Schultz, CEO of Airbus Canada, echoes: “Canada has the industry, technologies, and natural resources like biomass and green hydrogen to produce SAF, but it lacks a clear direction. Institutions and authorities are not yet clear on the most promising direction.”
The EU has mandated blending targets of 6 percent SAF by 2030 and 20 percent by 2035 with penalties for non-compliance and in the US, the Inflation Reduction Act provides financial incentives for production. Encouraging producers to maximize SAF yields over other renewable fuels like diesel is shifting the economics. Industry voices call for more support, but quantifying the exact needs remains murky territory.