Sustainable Fuels Can Help Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Recent advances in Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) are putting the spotlight on how business aviation can reduce its environmental footprint, with a goal to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Traditional “Jet A” used in turbine-powered aircraft is a fossil fuel. SAFs on the other hand are made from a number of different biological raw material sources - such as plant oils, purpose-grown biomass, and agricultural residues. To be sustainable these products do not compete with food supplies nor are major consumers of prime agricultural land or fresh water.

Tests are currently underway that will eventually convert solid waste from homes and businesses, such as packaging, paper, textiles, and food waste - materials that would otherwise go to landfill or incineration, into a sustainable aviation fuel.

These bio-fuels are currently blended with traditional jet fuel when used (anywhere from a 10- to 50-percent mix) however they have been successfully demonstrated on their own. Once additional development and testing can produce a SAF that mimics all of the properties of current jet fuel these products may begin to appear on the market.

Flights made with SAF have shown improvements to aircraft fuel burn, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

Once certified for use these alternative fuels require no changes to fuel distribution systems, aircraft maintenance and operating practices, or flight crew training procedures.

Currently sustainable aviation fuels are not widely available due to a lack of commercial-scale investment that makes them more costly. To grow their use from conceptual to widespread, governments and industry are being engaged to significantly increase efforts that encourage production and use of SAF. A major industry conference is being organized for early 2020 aimed at accelerating the availability and use of sustainable aviation fuels.

The business aviation community is dedicated to carbon-neutral growth from 2020 onward and a 50% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050 relative to 2005 based on the goals set by the International Civil Aviation Organization, a UN body.

*Sustainability is defined as as having met criteria focused around long-term global environmental, social and economic sustainability considerations