U.S. airlines use sustainable fuel in less than 0.1 percent of flights. Yet the government wants 10 percent of the industry to run on sustainable fuel by 2030, and to reach 100 percent by 2050.
The scale of the challenge is massive: United Airlines used 7 million gallons of sustainable fuel last year, according to company spokesman Sam Coleman. “That was a threefold increase from the year before, which is great, except that United Airlines burns between 3 and 4 billion — with a B — gallons of fuel every year.”
Air travel creates 2 percent of the world’s CO2 emissions and 12 percent of transportation emissions, according to the Department of Energy. There will be a projected 40.1 million flights in 2024, up from 36.8 million the year before.
The carbon footprint of business travel could get lower
Put simply, air travel simply isn’t anywhere close to being sustainable.
Yet chief sustainability officers — looking to reduce the carbon footprint of their business travel operations — would dearly love it to be.
The Biden administration sought to change that April 30 when it announced that producers of corn- and soy-based jet fuel who use “climate-smart” farming practices will be eligible for new tax credits.
The administration’s guidance, which isn’t final, could help other businesses reduce the carbon footprint of their employees’ travel. Salesforce, for one, plans to buy sustainable fuel certificates for 5 percent of its Scope 3 emissions for air travel.
The move came after the launch April 29 of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Coalition (SAFC), a lobby group of 40 aviation businesses including American Airlines and United Airlines. The group will push for increased investment in sustainable fuel.
“Sustainable” is a relative term when it comes to jet fuel. It is typically blended with regular jet fuel in a ratio of between 10 to 50 percent. It can reduce carbon emissions by up to 85 percent over its lifecycle, according to Boeing Aerospace, even though by its nature it still involves burning fossil fuel and producing CO2.
Sustainable jet fuel is expensive
Sustainable fuel costs two to four times more than fossil fuel. That “green premium” hampers adoption, and demand outstrips the supply, according to the International Air Transport Association.
That’s where the new government subsidies come in. Producers using corn for ethanol or soy for biodiesel can now qualify for tax credits of between $1.25 to $1.75 per gallon of fuel produced. They must be able to demonstrate that they used regenerative agriculture: cover crops, energy-efficient fertilizer and did not till their soil to make the fuel.
Critics want crops for food, not fuel
The cost — and the continued use of petroleum — are why many in the airline industry regard crop-based fuel as a “bridge” that will eventually lead to “third-generation fuels” from hydrogen and carbon capture.
“While some may view this announcement as being too stringent or too lenient for crop-based fuels, we believe that it strikes the right balance between getting the science right and incentivizing lower carbon fuel production with the feedstocks and production processes that we have available today,” said John Hebert, senior policy adviser for transportation at think tank Third Way.
Environmental groups expressed wariness over the plan to grow crops for fuel instead of food. “U.S. airlines should align with their European counterparts in demanding sustainable aviation fuel made from feedstocks that don’t compete with food production,” Dan Lashof, World Resources Institute director, told GreenBiz.
That’s not part of the administration’s vision, however. It’s all about jet fuel: The new tax breaks are “a big step forward for American farmers, for American innovation, for American jobs and America’s ability to cut carbon pollution for our transportation sector and to protect our planet,” said John Podesta, the senior clean energy advisor to Biden who oversees spending under the Inflation Reduction Act, at a press event Monday.
New laws require sustainable fuel
But governments the world over seem intent on forcing a market for sustainable fuel into existence. Among them:
As of April 24, a new Nebraska law offers a tax credit of 75 cents per gallon to SAF producers. After Iowa, the state is the second biggest producer of ethanol.
Illinois, the third largest U.S. ethanol producer, is offering a tax credit of $1.50 per gallon for those who purchase sustainable fuel. Washington state will offer a credit of up to $2 per gallon, once facilities there pump up at least 20 million gallons per year.
In 2025, the European Union will begin requiring its airports to use a minimum of 2 percent sustainable fuel, reaching 63 percent in 2050.
All flights originating in the U.K. will be required to run on 10 percent sustainable fuel by 2030, under its sustainable aviation fuel mandate published in April. The target includes supplying 1.2 million metric tons of fuel annually.
“SAF will enhance domestic energy security, create new markets for American farmers, reduce aviation emissions and drive next-generation technology development,” said Alison Graab, executive director of the SAF Coalition and a transport industry lobbyist.
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