Flying the low-carbon skies

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Flying the low-carbon skies

The aviation industry is determined to shed its carbon dioxide emissions by ditching fossil fuels. Depending on how you count carbon, airlines are responsible for 2.5–3.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the nonprofit Our World in Data . Though companies can cut emissions with better routing and aircraft design, there’s no avoiding the need to run planes on some kind of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). “We, our customers, this entire industry are absolutely committed to decarbonizing,” said Dale Smith, who leads Boeing’s environmental strategy for commercial flight in North America. He was speaking at the 2022 Advanced Bioeconomy Leadership Conference in March. “We’ve been working on this for a long time. We feel very confident that we can get there and that SAF is the lion’s share of the solution.” Still, switching to SAF is a tall order that isn’t even beginning to be filled. Global demand for

Airlines are eager to switch to sustainable aviation fuel—as soon as there’s enough to go around

10.1021/cen-10021-feature1-jetfuel-gr1

On June 6, Malaysia Airlines flew its first passenger flight using jet fuel made in part by Neste from used cooking oil. It was an hour-long trip from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore. The firms say the fuel will be available at Kuala Lumpur going forward. (Credit: Malaysia Airlines)

jet fuelbiofuelsairplaneA tanker truck from Neste marked as containing sustainable aviation fuel fills a commercial airplane's tank.