On the heels of the Inflation Reduction Act, the adoption and increased production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) has received more support.
At the 41st Assembly Meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), held last month in Montreal, member states adopted a long-term aspiration goal (LTAG) of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
According to ICAO, the achievement of this LTAG will rely on the “combined effect of multiple CO2 emissions reduction measures,” including the increased production and deployment of SAF along with other factors like the accelerated adoption of new aircraft technologies and streamlined flight operations.
“States’ adoption of this new long-term goal for decarbonized air transport, following the similar commitments from industry groups, will contribute importantly to the green innovation and implementation momentum which must be accelerated over the coming decades to ultimately achieve emissions free powered flight,” Salvatore Sciacchitano, president of the ICAO Council, said in a press release announcing the LTAG.
During ICAO’s Assembly Meeting, support was pledged to the new ICAO Assistance, Capacity-building and Training for Sustainable Aviation Fuels (ACT-SAF) program, which is designed to accelerate the availability and use of SAF. As a result, a third iteration of ICAO’s Conference on Aviation and Alternative Fuels was requested to be held in 2023.
What’s more, countries participating in ICAO’s Assembly Meeting agreed on a new baseline for the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA).
During a webinar hosted by Third Way titled A Flight Path for Sustainable Aviation Fuel Policy, Annie Petsonk, assistant secretary for aviation and internal affairs for the U.S. Department of Transportations, shared thoughts on why airlines’ renewed pledge to CORSIA is vital to the LTAG of net-zero carbon emissions by mid-century.
“CORSIA was suspended, effectively, during the pandemic. So, for the years 2021, ’22, ’23, the airlines do not have an effective obligation to reduce emissions. But as a result of [October’s] agreement, starting approximately in 2024, international airlines flying between countries that have volunteered for CORSIA – and that’s over 100 countries now – have the obligation to limit their net emissions to 85 percent of their 2019 emissions,” Petsonk said.
“If that sustainable aviation fuel is produced in a way that, on a lifecycle basis, reduces emissions below what conventional jet fuel would produce on a lifecycle basis, then those reductions can be counted toward the airlines' goals under CORSIA and also under the U.S. Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge and the roadmap for meeting the Grand Challenge,” she said.
The SAF Grand Challenge is a U.S.-based initiative. The collaborative program is being conducted by the U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Agriculture and other agencies to establish a strategy for increasing the production of SAF on a commercial scale.
“The SAF Grand Challenge is a government-wide effort to work with the industry to reduce the cost, enhance the sustainability and expand production – not only to achieve that 3 billion gallons per year by 2030, but to do so for fuels that achieve at least a 50-percent reduction on a lifecycle basis compared to conventional jet fuel,” Petsonk said.
“That is where we’ll begin to see the real climate benefits from using these fuels.”
The roadmap for meeting the SAF Grand Challenge identifies six action areas within activities that may impact the program's objectives of expanding SAF supply and use, reducing the cost of SAF and enhancing SAF’s sustainability. These six actions include feedstock innovation; conversion technology innovation; building supply chains; policy and valuation analysis; enabling end use; and communicating progress and building support.
According to Petsonk, the agencies working cooperatively to implement these six action items of the SAF Grand Challenge coupled with ICAO members’ establishing a LTAG to of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 while strengthening CORSIA obligations should “provide a powerful signal to the market that sustainable aviation fuel is here to stay.”
