Corporate travel propels boom in sustainable aviation fuel

A growing number of companies are making bulk purchases of sustainable aviation fuel to reduce their carbon footprints, encouraging mass production of the cleaner energy that airlines need to meet their emissions targets. Airlines, travel agents and fuel producers are now offering corporate customers the opportunity to buy SAF not linked to individual flights, as companies go beyond cheaper carbon offset options like planting trees to reduce the environmental burden of flying. The industry move toward a "book and claim" accounting system like that used in the renewable electricity sector allows for greater flexibility given the relative scarcity of SAF, which uses feedstocks like cooking oils to reduce emissions by up to 80% from conventional fuel but is available only at limited airports globally. In a recent deal announced by Qantas Airways, five companies will pay a premium to reduce their emissions by contributing to the cost of the airline using SAF supplied by BP at London's Heathrow Airport. The companies involved can claim an emissions reduction to be used for a variety of potential purposes that is not linked to their business travel from London to Australia. Participant Boston Consulting Group, which is also buying SAF through United Airlines and fuel suppliers SkyNRG and Neste, said it was looking to help scale the SAF market to meet internal targets. "Our largest source of emissions come from business travel, and there we have committed to cut our emissions intensity in half by 2025, compared to 2018," BCG Chief Sustainability Officer David Webb said.<br/>