Looking Forward to the Future of Fuel

In 2018, about 90 billion gallons of jet fuel were used; about four percent of that was SAF. What is SAF? It is aviation biofuel that is deemed sustainable by a trustworthy third-party organization, and it matters because it is a means of reaching emissions reduction goals.

The industry still favors traditional jet fuel’s price, availability, and distribution. After all, most of the SAF used last year was made at a Paramount, Calif. refinery.

Industry experts, like Executive Director Steve Csonka from the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative, believe that SAF will see a rise in 2022 since refineries are being planned and built across the globe, including, for instance, in Oregon and Sweden. Furthermore, airlines have pledged a yearly total of 250 million gallons of SAF. Then, there is CORISA, the Carbon Offsetting and Reducing Scheme for International Aviation.

CORSIA is a set of measures created in 2018 via the United Nations. Its goal is, as its name suggests, to offset and reduce carbon emissions starting in 2021. The plan is endorsed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and ultimately aims to benefit the environment.

RyanAir was the first airline in the European Union to publicly release monthly carbon dioxide emissions as of June 5, 2019. Its commitment to mitigating the environmentally detrimental effects of air travel was the first of its kind in the EU and shows promise for the future.

As stated by the IATA CEO, Alexandre de Juniac, sustainable aviation fuel “will stop our carbon footprint from growing.” However, while sustainable aviation fuel is important for the future and working towards the goals outlined by CORSIA, other methods, like more efficient aircrafts, will be needed to more greatly curb air travel’s harmful effects on the environment.

With continued environmentally friendly actions from the air industry, the future will be brighter.