Sustainable aviation fuel production to triple in 2024, but industry still some way from 2030 goal

The production of eco-friendly jet fuel is expected to triple to 1.875b litres in 2024, accounting for 0.53% of the aviation industry’s fuel needs, said the International Air Transport Association (Iata). But this is still far behind the amount needed to reach the target of having cleaner jet fuel form 5% of fuel consumption by 2030. That is because to meet this target, about 17.5b litres of eco-friendly fuel – more than nine times the projected amount in 2024 – will need to be produced yearly by 2030, Iata said at its global media day on Dec 6 in Geneva, Switzerland. In 2023, greener jet fuel volumes reached 600m litres, double the 300m litres produced in 2022, said Iata. Sustainable aviation fuel refers to jet fuel made from waste materials such as used cooking oil and animal fat. Singapore Airlines and its budget arm Scoot are among those committed to reaching a goal of 5% sustainable aviation fuel use by 2030. In November, the International Civil Aviation Organisation and its member states – including Singapore – adopted a global framework for cleaner aviation fuels to reduce carbon emissions in international aviation by 5% by 2030.<br/>