SAF could eliminate nearly two-thirds of aviation emissions by 2050: report
In California, a new report by the Cleantech Group found that widespread use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) could eliminate nearly two-thirds of aviation industry emissions by 2050
Currently, such uptake is cost-effective for long-haul flights, but not for flights of shorter duration. Use of SAF in long-haul flights — which account for only 6.2% of all flights — alone can eliminate half of all aviation industry emissions.
“Global SAF production is increasing rapidly, but uptake remains at 0.2% of all global aircraft fuel. Airlines and operators are actively engaging with decarbonization solutions such as electric, hydrogen, and hybrid aircrafts to achieve high rates of decarbonization without relying on the uncertain SAF market,” said Nicole Cerulli, Associate, Transportation & Logistics.
Europe is early leader. Europe and European carriers dominate use of SAF with an 80% market share. North America comes second with 16%, while the rest of the world uses about 4%. Air France-KLM, logistics giant DHL and IAG, the parent company of British Airways, have led Europe, as usage across the continent grew to 167,000 tons in 2023. Europe has now set a higher goal — targeting another 1 million tons of SAF by 2025.
Corporates driving uptake. Key drivers are decarbonization goals for 2050 set for their members by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as well as minimum SAF uptake mandates in the EU. While SAF premiums are currently exorbitant, many major airlines and operators have established uptake targets. Key demand owners for SAF are financial corporations aiming to reduce Scope 3 emissions (emissions emerging outside of an organization’s direct control but still seen as a result of the organization’s business activities).
SAF supply remains a bottleneck. Supply of SAF remains constrained, posing a challenge to greater adoption. The U.S. is a leader with 79,000 tons in 2023. It remains on track to produce more SAF in 2024 than the world’s production in 2023. Yet, it needs a challenging 97% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the next several years to meet 2030 targets.
Category: SAF
