IATA Calls on IEA to Prioritise Investment in Sustainable Aviation Fuel

IATA has called for the International Energy Agency (IEA) to prioritise investment in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to help power aviation’s contribution to the post-COVID19 recovery.

IATA set the aviation industry a goal of cutting aviation emissions to half 2005 levels by 2050, however current SAF production rates are too low to achieve this despite SAF’s proven potential and airline efforts to date.

Why SAF?

- SAF can cut CO2 lifecycle emissions up to 80% compared with conventional jet fuel;

- SAF uses sustainable fuel sources which do not compete with food or water, or damage biodiversity;

- Due to extensive testing and investment from airlines, SAF is certified as safe, sustainable, and ready-to-use; and

- Over 250,000 flights have already taken off with a blend of SAF.

Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO, said, “The enormous amounts of money that governments are investing in the economic recovery from COVID19 are an opportunity to create a legacy of energy transition for the aviation industry. To achieve this, governments, the finance community and the fuel producers - both large and small - must work together with the goal of rapidly increasing production of affordable sustainable aviation fuel.”

IATA estimates that current SAF production is 50 million litres annually. To reach a tipping point where the scale of production will see SAF costs drop to levels competitive with jet fuel, production needs to reach 7 billion litres or 2% of 2019 consumption.

“As much as airlines want to use SAF, production is well below the scale needed for prices to fall to competitive levels. Attaining the right price point is even more crucial as industry losses and debt levels rise. But if governments can use this unique time to combine a safe fiscal and regulatory framework supporting SAF production with the direct allocation of stimulus funds to SAF production, it is possible to reach the 2% tipping point in 2025. That would power greener flight, create jobs and fuel the economic recovery together,” de Juniac added. “SAF is our biggest emissions reduction opportunity. The time is right to push it forward so that, together, we can achieve major carbon reductions on the way towards fossil fuel-free flight.”

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