At the end of last year, Virgin Atlantic ran a radio spot in Britain touting a remarkable environmental achievement: the British airline was about to fly a plane on “100 percent sustainable aviation fuel.”
The advertisement referred to a unique demonstration flight which took place days later in November 28, 2023in which the company flew a Boeing 787 Dreamliner from London to New York City using only a blend of waste oils and vegetable sugars. In doing so, Virgin Atlantic became the first commercial airline to fly a passenger plane across the Atlantic Ocean without directly burning fossil fuels.
Although the flight was indeed used “100 percent sustainable aviation fuel,” the British Advertising Standards Authority found the claim misleading. Listeners might assume that was the fuel itself “100 percent sustainable” and therefore had no impact on the environment, the agency said in August, when it finally came to this has banned the ad in the country.
The anecdote illustrates a complicated reality surrounding the offer decarbonize air travelwhich almost represents today 2.5 percent of the world’s annual CO2 emissions. Airlines are increasingly complaining about it SAFboth within the industry and in splashy advertising campaigns. But the exact definition of SAF remains confusing and controversial.
Because aviation experts consider SAF the are “only feasible solutionTo decarbonize air travel in the near term — even if not perfectly — expect to hear this acronym a lot more often. Here in the United States, the Biden administration has invested heavily to build a house SAF industry, and that trend is likely to continue during the second Trump administration.
“There is bipartisan support for biofuels in general SAF will be able to benefit from that,” said Alexander Laska, deputy director of transportation and innovation at Third Way, a center-left think tank. “I think we will continue to see that dynamic in the coming years.”
So with SAF on the rise, let’s take a look at some of the most important details passengers, investors and other decision makers need to know about this lame industry term.
1. What is SAFand where does it come from?
“Sustainable aviation fuel” is an umbrella term for liquid fuels made without crude oil. These alternative fuels can “drop-in” to existing aircraft and engine fuel systems, distribution infrastructure and storage facilities – as opposed to electric planes And hydrogen-powered aircraftwhich are at a much earlier stage of development and would require airlines to review their operations.
Almost all the electricity in the world SAF the supply consists of a certain type of biofuel: hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids, or HEFAwhich can be obtained from raw materials such as virgin vegetable oils, animal fats and used cooking oil. HEFA is one of the seven fuels paths approved for use by ASTM International, the standard setter of the aviation industry.
Air bp supplied sustainable aviation fuel for Virgin Atlantic’s 2023 demonstration flight. (Air-bp)
Other forms of SAF can consist of biofuels made from it corn ethanollandfill waste, agricultural waste, algae and sugar beets, as well as synthetic fuels (or “e-fuels”) made with carbon dioxide and hydrogen.
Virgin Atlantic’s all-HEFA-powered flight was notable because, with some exceptions, aircraft are generally not allowed to fly using alternative fuels alone. SAF must be mixed with fossil jet fuel to ensure everything remains compatible with fuel systems worldwide. ASTM limited how much SAF suppliers can join in and cover it 10 Unpleasant 50 percent of a given fuel mixture, depending on the raw material.
This is not yet a problem for the sector. Among the airlines that use SAFmost burn the equivalent of a few drops during a given flight, due to small production volumes. In 2023global SAF production achieved 159 million gallons (600 million litres) – which amounts to just 0.2 percent of total aviation fuel consumption.
An important barrier for wider SAF adoption is the price. There are currently two alternatives 10 times more expensive than fossil jet fuel, depending on what they’re made of and how, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
But airlines, which operate on slim profit margins, are trying to find ways to cover those extra costs. A handful of European carriers, including Virgin Atlanticare starting to increase ticket prices for certain routes, with surcharges of $1 to $78 per flight. Airlines can also sell SAF “certificatesto companies, which allow third parties to count the CO2 reduction associated with the fuel towards their own climate goals.
2. How does the aviation industry define “durable”?
Alternative jet fuels contain carbon molecules, so burning them still generates emissions that warm the planet. And make SAF can be quite energy intensive.
However, regulators generally consider fuels to be sustainable if their life cycle greenhouse gas emissions are lower than those of fossil jet fuel. This means that the entire process of growing or obtaining raw materials, transporting them to refineries and processing them in SAFloading fuels onto planes and burning them in flight ultimately pumps less CO2 into the atmosphere than the entire process from start to finish when using conventional fuel.
When Virgin Atlantic crossed the ocean alone SAFit produced the same amount of CO2 emissions during flight as any other aircraft. But on a life cycle basis, the demo flight reduced net emissions by 64 percentthe airline said.
More specific criteria for SAF vary slightly by agency or organization.
The Biden administration has determined That SAF reduce life cycle emissions by a minimum 50 percent compared to conventional jet fuel. And fuels made from food crops – corn ethanol, for example – may qualify for federal aid SAF tax credits according to current guidelines if they take additional measures to limit this CO2 emissions during production.
Life cycle emissions from different SAF routes compared to fossil jet fuel: HEFA (hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids); AtJ (alcohol-to-jet); FT (Fischer-Tropsch); PtL (power to liquid). (US Department of Energy)
This is what the International Civil Aviation Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations, says SAF Life cycle emissions should be reduced at least minimally 10 percent. The International Air Transport Association, a trade group, not considering fuels made from food crops to be sustainable.
Meanwhile, the Sustainable Aviation Buyers Alliance say SAF should reduce emissions by at least 60 percent, and includes all raw materials except palm oil. The alliance is a joint initiative of the Environmental Defense Fund and RMIa think tank for clean energy. The groups came earlier this year assisted land obligations from private companies such as Meta and Netflix to almost $200 million in SAF certificates, equal to approx 50 million liters of fuel.
“We think 60 percent is enough to continue to push the market forward without making the hurdle unattainable,” says Mark Porter, director of RMIwhose colleagues took part in the Virgin Atlantic demonstration flight research purposes.
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