Clear skies for a sustainable future: How innovation may hasten aviation's transition to net-zero emissions

 Few businesses endure as much scrutiny as aviation in a world where the urgency of tackling climate change has reached unprecedented heights. The sky have long been associated with infinite promise, but they also bear the responsibility of an indisputable carbon imprint. Aviation contributes for 2% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). With air travel expected to increase over the next decade, these pollutants are only going to get worse.

There are few low-carbon options and breakthroughs in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and alternative propulsion technologies today. The importance of these technologies has never been greater. Notably, the IEA predicts that 50% of the emission reductions required for net-zero targets will be driven by technologies that are either still in the conceptual stage or have not yet achieved the required scale.

Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is at the heart of aviation's decarbonization initiatives, and it is critical to reshaping the industry's route to emissions reduction in the near to medium term. Current sustainable aviation fuel is an attractive alternative to standard jet fuel, primarily derived from renewables, organics, or trash. However, scalability and feedstock limitations prevent widespread usage. Advanced fuel technologies, such as alcohol-to-jet and e-fuels (such as SAF85), are critical for long-term decarbonization, but their infancy and lack of scalability present obstacles.