United pushes sustainable jet fuel via traveler donations

United is forming a coalition of companies willing to contribute funds to increase the use of sustainable aviation fuels, including a first group of 11 that will purchase 3.4m gallons this year. The airline also said Tuesday that it’ll invite travelers to donate money to buy sustainable fuels or to contribute toward research to increase the use of such fuels across the industry. Currently, United uses only about 1m gallons a year of sustainable aviation fuels, or SAF, mostly at its Los Angeles hub. Such fuels are typically produced from algae, wood chips, corn or sugar cane, grasses, food waste or from municipal trash or spent cooking oils. “There’s a long way to go to make SAF viable and economically possible and scalable to the point that it can make a real difference,” United CEO Scott Kirby said April 9 on a call with reporters. In 2016, United made a $30m equity investment in Fulcrum BioEnergy to help covert household trash into biofuels for United’s fleet. The airline will continue selling carbon offsets on its booking channels -- a climate-change tactic Kirby has repeatedly blasted as ineffective “greenwashing.” He said United is likely to end that practice.<br/>