The aviation industry has made significant strides towards realizing more sustainable technologies in recent years. Jan Toschka, President of Global Aviation for Shell, argues that SAF is the “product with the most potential†in the short and medium term, as electric and hydrogen technologies will take longer to become a reality.
However, there is much further to go before SAF sees widespread utilization. Today, SAF represents just 0.1 percent of the jet fuel used globally, and costs between 2 and 8 times more to produce than conventional fuel.
Robust long-term policy such as mandates and fiscal incentives to incentivize production and stimulate demand can go a long way towards driving the uptake of SAF, and Toschka remarks that the European Union’s Fit for 55 framework provides a “practical pathway†for the aviation sector to decarbonize.
The European Union could also be much more ambitious, however, with Toschka calling for a higher 2030 target for SAF’s use of 10 percent and greater feedstock flexibility to achieve this.
Find out more about the aviation industry’s path to decarbonization, how SAF fits into this, the role of policy and what Shell is doing to play its part in this video:
