Saw the below report today, thought the folks here would be interested.
By the way, I was in touch with David Loy yesterday on another matter, and I told him about the group here. He is interested and looking in.
Gassho, J
STLAH
By the way, I was in touch with David Loy yesterday on another matter, and I told him about the group here. He is interested and looking in.
Gassho, J
STLAH
There is a small chance that your next flight will be powered, at least in part, by used cooking oils or agricultural waste.
These are among the ingredients of SAF -- Sustainable Aviation Fuel -- a new type of jet fuel that promises to curb carbon emissions by 80% on average, according to IATA, the International Air Transport Association.
The first commercial flights using SAF took off in 2011, and it has since grown to become a key element in making air transport more sustainable. The aviation industry has pledged that, by 2050, its global carbon emissions will be half that of what they were in 2005. It then hopes to reach net zero, or the complete absence of emissions, as early as a decade after that. That's an extremely ambitious plan, and one in which SAF accounts for 50% to 75% of the total reduction in emissions, depending on the different scenarios that can play out between now and then. SAF is a "drop in" fuel, which means it can be used now, in existing aircraft, with little or no modifications.
And yet in 2019 -- the last year of business as usual before the pandemic -- SAF accounted for just 0.1% of all jet fuel used worldwide, according to the World Economic Forum. So why aren't airlines using more of it?
... SAF has a low carbon footprint because it's made from waste products, where the carbon has already been emitted, or from plants that use up CO2 to grow.
The problem is that it's currently much more expensive to produce than regular jet fuel, even with today's elevated oil prices.
"There's no real business case for the sector to invest in it at the moment," explains Schafer, meaning that airlines have no incentive to use SAF other than to reduce emissions -- but at current prices and amidst a global crisis brought on by Covid, that is a luxury they can't afford.
To make the price go down, production needs to ramp up significantly and new types of SAF must come to the market. Today, most SAF comes in the form of biofuel produced from waste fats such as used cooking oil, or from oil trees purposely grown on degraded land. However, there is not enough of these raw materials right now to supply the industry at a meaningful scale.
These are among the ingredients of SAF -- Sustainable Aviation Fuel -- a new type of jet fuel that promises to curb carbon emissions by 80% on average, according to IATA, the International Air Transport Association.
The first commercial flights using SAF took off in 2011, and it has since grown to become a key element in making air transport more sustainable. The aviation industry has pledged that, by 2050, its global carbon emissions will be half that of what they were in 2005. It then hopes to reach net zero, or the complete absence of emissions, as early as a decade after that. That's an extremely ambitious plan, and one in which SAF accounts for 50% to 75% of the total reduction in emissions, depending on the different scenarios that can play out between now and then. SAF is a "drop in" fuel, which means it can be used now, in existing aircraft, with little or no modifications.
And yet in 2019 -- the last year of business as usual before the pandemic -- SAF accounted for just 0.1% of all jet fuel used worldwide, according to the World Economic Forum. So why aren't airlines using more of it?
... SAF has a low carbon footprint because it's made from waste products, where the carbon has already been emitted, or from plants that use up CO2 to grow.
The problem is that it's currently much more expensive to produce than regular jet fuel, even with today's elevated oil prices.
"There's no real business case for the sector to invest in it at the moment," explains Schafer, meaning that airlines have no incentive to use SAF other than to reduce emissions -- but at current prices and amidst a global crisis brought on by Covid, that is a luxury they can't afford.
To make the price go down, production needs to ramp up significantly and new types of SAF must come to the market. Today, most SAF comes in the form of biofuel produced from waste fats such as used cooking oil, or from oil trees purposely grown on degraded land. However, there is not enough of these raw materials right now to supply the industry at a meaningful scale.
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