Aviation leaders hail green fuel as carbon saviour, but wonder who will pay

Greener fuel is the only way airlines will meet strict global carbon emission targets, executives meeting in Dublin this week agreed, but there's little consensus on who should foot the hefty bill to ramp up production. Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which uses feedstocks like cooking oils to reduce emissions by up to 80% from conventional fuel, is seen as the carbon saviour for an aviation sector often cast as a villain in the fight against climate change. But the nascent industry makes up less than 1% of fuel used and costs between three to five times more than traditional jet fuel. That has stirred a debate whether governments, airlines or oil producers - or a combination of all three - should fund the expansion of production required to hit a proposed European Union target of 20% by 2035. Aengus Kelly, CE of lease giant AerCap, said SAF was the only option, but cited an estimate that the transition could require investment of $1.5t over 30 years. "That's an extraordinary cost," he told the Airline Economics conference, one of a pair of annual events that bring together the world's largest aircraft owners. Government won't do it all. That's not going to happen." Willie Walsh, head of airline industry body IATA, told the conference airlines shouldn't expect traditional oil producers to meet the industry's needs. "There has to be greater sharing of the burden to ensure that the industry, everybody can make it to net zero," he said.<br/>