WITHOUT state compulsion to make renewable aviation fuel accessible, there will be not enough to effect energy transition in the industry, warns the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
'We need governments to act to ensure that sustainable aviation fuel [SAF] gets its fair production share,' said Willie Walsh, director general of IATA, at the group's annual general meeting in Istanbul.
'That means, in the first instance, production incentives, to support aviation's energy transition, and we need continued approval for more diversification of methods and feedstocks available for SAF production,' he said.
Pleas for policy intervention to advance the decarbonisation sends investment signals to the energy and capital markets, and have been increasing across aviation and ocean transport sectors.
While ocean shipping looks to liquefied natural gas (LNG), methanol and ammonia as its low and zero-carbon alternatives, aviation is focusing on fuels collectively known as SAF, which are expected to provide about 62 per cent of the carbon reduction levels needed by 2050.
IATA believes 85 per cent of future SAF volumes over the next five years will be derived from just one of nine certified pathways - hydrotreated esters and fatty acids (HEFA). However, that fuel is dependent on the availability of waste fat, oil and grease feedstocks, which is limited and will likely make it more expensive than fossil fuels.
There are more than 130 relevant renewable fuel projects that have been announced by more than 85 producers across 30 countries, according to IATA.
Each of the projects has either announced the intent or commitment to produce SAF within their wider product slate of renewable fuels, and there is typically a three- to five-year lag between a project announcement and its commercialisation date.
'But with governments the world over agreeing at ICAO [International Civil Aviation Organisation] to a long-term aspirational goal of net zero by 2050, they now share accountability for aviation's decarbonisation,' Mr Walsh said.
'That means establishing a policy framework to ensure that aviation gets the needed share of renewable energy production in SAF.'
SeaNews Turkey
'We need governments to act to ensure that sustainable aviation fuel [SAF] gets its fair production share,' said Willie Walsh, director general of IATA, at the group's annual general meeting in Istanbul.
'That means, in the first instance, production incentives, to support aviation's energy transition, and we need continued approval for more diversification of methods and feedstocks available for SAF production,' he said.
Pleas for policy intervention to advance the decarbonisation sends investment signals to the energy and capital markets, and have been increasing across aviation and ocean transport sectors.
While ocean shipping looks to liquefied natural gas (LNG), methanol and ammonia as its low and zero-carbon alternatives, aviation is focusing on fuels collectively known as SAF, which are expected to provide about 62 per cent of the carbon reduction levels needed by 2050.
IATA believes 85 per cent of future SAF volumes over the next five years will be derived from just one of nine certified pathways - hydrotreated esters and fatty acids (HEFA). However, that fuel is dependent on the availability of waste fat, oil and grease feedstocks, which is limited and will likely make it more expensive than fossil fuels.
There are more than 130 relevant renewable fuel projects that have been announced by more than 85 producers across 30 countries, according to IATA.
Each of the projects has either announced the intent or commitment to produce SAF within their wider product slate of renewable fuels, and there is typically a three- to five-year lag between a project announcement and its commercialisation date.
'But with governments the world over agreeing at ICAO [International Civil Aviation Organisation] to a long-term aspirational goal of net zero by 2050, they now share accountability for aviation's decarbonisation,' Mr Walsh said.
'That means establishing a policy framework to ensure that aviation gets the needed share of renewable energy production in SAF.'
SeaNews Turkey
