Aviation Alternative Fuel is a hard-to-abate sector: aircraft require high energy density fuels and long-range performance that battery or hydrogen solutions aren’t yet able to deliver at scale for long-haul flights. That makes Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) — liquid drop-in replacements or blends for conventional jet fuel that reduce lifecycle greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions — the most practical near-term lever to cut aviation emissions while broader electrification and hydrogen technologies mature.
International aviation emissions are substantial and growing with air travel demand. Industry bodies including IATA and major carriers have made net-zero by 2050 pledges; hitting those targets without displacing fossil jet fuel at scale will be virtually impossible. SAF can reduce lifecycle CO₂ emissions by up to ~80% compared with conventional jet fuel for some pathways, and can be used without major modifications to aircraft or fuel distribution infrastructure when blended within certified limits.
From a commercial perspective, SAF is the single most immediate technical lever airlines can deploy to materially reduce carbon intensity. But that simple fact hides substantial practical challenges — supply is tiny relative to demand and costs are significantly higher than conventional jet fuel today — making policy and corporate offtakes central to scaling production.
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