IATA puts faith in sustainable aviation fuels

IATA is urging governments to promote sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) as a critical tool to enabling the industry to halve its CO2 emissions against 2005 levels by 2050. Calling SAF a “game changer”, IATA’s Sebastian Mikosz, senior VP for member and external relations, tells the third day of the association’s global media event that SAF products are already available and do not require any additional modifications to aircraft or infrastructure. Around 40 airlines already have experience of using SAF, with flights having taken place using only SAF. However, “this game changer needs policy support because the cost of SAF is really not competitive now”, he notes. SAF currently cost around two-to-four times as much as conventional aviation fuel. IATA believes the coronavirus crisis is an opportunity for governments to support SAF production, with additional investment required in the refinery sector. Governments could promote SAF through direct investment from stimulus packages, loan guarantees and incentives for the private sector, as well as regulations that channel feedstock towards aviation, as opposed to other lower-carbon transport industries. “Our ambition is to use the crisis to promote SAF and regulatory support of lowering the cost of SAF”, says Mikosz. The association envisages SAF’s usage rising from around 0.01% of global aviation fuel currently to 2% in the middle of the decade. By 2050, it hopes SAF could represent 50-85% of aviation fuel consumption, via a “gradual ramp-up” in its adoption.<br/>