Airlines in Europe are using more sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) than their competitors in the USA and elsewhere, according to a BNN Bloomberg report.
Although many airlines have pledged to get at least 10% of their jet fuel from cleaner sources by the end of the decade, SAF use increased from 0.04% of global aviation fuel in 2021 to 0.17% in 2023, according to estimates from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Higher SAF use by European airlines was partly due to a government mandate, with the European Union (EU) requiring airlines to use 2% SAF from next year, the 19 August report said.
While other governments had introduced their own mandates – including the UK, Singapore and British Columbia – the USA had taken a voluntary approach, with the government offering incentives for SAF without requiring airlines to purchase the cleaner fuels, which cost about three times more than conventional jet fuel, BNN Bloomberg wrote.
“In the US, there’s still a bit of cognitive dissonance between the 2050 net-zero claims and the excitement about SAF, and what airlines are actually willing to pay for if they don’t have to,” Nik Pavlenko, lead of the fuels team at non-profit think tank the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), was quoted as saying.
According to Bloomberg Green analysis of corporate environmental filings for 2023, Germany-based cargo carrier DHL Group leads the world in SAF adoption, with more than 3% of its jet fuel from cleaner sources last year. To achieve this, DHL carrier purchased more lower-emission jet fuel than all US airlines combined.
Despite a pledge to get 30% of its jet fuel from cleaner sources by 2030, Memphis-based FedEx Corp did not purchase any SAF last year.
Meanwhile, Air France-KLM led all passenger airlines last year with 1.1% SAF usage – more than six times the percentage of the US leader, United Airlines Holdings Inc, which used 0.17% SAF.
“Carrots, on their own – I don’t think they’re that effective,” Marina Efthymiou, a professor of aviation management at Dublin City University Business School, was quoted as saying.
Efthymiou called on governments to use both incentives and mandates to promote the SAF market.
Officials at several US airlines told Bloomberg Green that they were committed to increasing their use of cleaner fuels.
While available supply has been limited, things are starting to pick up, according to industry officials, who cited US government data showing the amount of SAF produced or imported into the country doubled in the first half of this year compared to all of 2023.
“That’s the kind of exponential growth we’ve been hoping for,” John Heimlich, chief economist at industry trade group Airlines for America was quoted as saying.
However, as SAF remained significantly more expensive, mandates would lead to increases in air travel costs, Heimlich added.
