Major oil firms lag behind in green aviation fuel investment, a new study shows.
Major oil companies’ move into sustainable fuels for aviation has hit a snag: “This has stalled their much-touted transition into a lower-carbon sector. So claims Transport & Environment, an independent Europe-wide think-and-action-tank on environment, sustainability and justice, from the biggest environment influence for clean transport and energy, in its report this morning on the new “State of the Fuels,”.
The saf is one of the best ways that have been given by the industry and the researchers to bring down the carbon footprint of aviation. This replaces jet fuels based on fossil that emit most of the CO2 present on earth. While promising and great, still most airlines have never really pushed the needle in becoming full-fully sustainable on the SAF side. 87% are still stuck to the baseline of transition of their transition into the Saf. A serious obstacle for the aviation industry aspiration to meet climate goals and reduce its carbon footprint.
Among 77 airlines questioned, only 10 are soaring on their way to a greener tomorrow. These include Air France-KLM and United Airlines and Norwegian who invested in e-kerosene: green fuel, made from renewable electricity. Additionally, they have embraced biofuels produced from waste instead of from agricultural products, which is considerably more friendly to the environment than traditional products derived from plants like corn or soy.
Most of the biofuels manufactured over the last years have not been termed sustainable even though they have been put into increased use recently. Most crop-based biofuels such as those from corn and soybeans require huge amounts of land and also a lot of water; therefore, they cause increased concerns regarding loss in forestry and food security. These have, therefore, not been very well suited for commercial-scale use. In comparison, e-kerosene is a much more scalable and sustainable substitute for the industry, and it can be produced from renewable sources of energy, such as wind or solar power.
These biofuels have environment-related benefits, but it reveals most of the airlines are at either the wrong mix of biofuels or not using SAFs itself. This is dangerous for the reason that SAFs are to be used toward net-zero emissions in the aviation business. However, as such, the production of SAFs is considerably lower compared to its demanded level; it cannot give an airline stable supply of these fuels, leading mainly to become unsustainable.
The major oil companies such as Shell, BP, and ExxonMobil are not investing in the production of SAF. They produce only biofuels, which are obtained from crops, are not very sustainable, and cannot be used on a large scale for aviation. The smaller companies and startups can only produce e-kerosene; however, they lack funds to expand their operations significantly to meet the growing requirement in the aviation sector on green fuels.
This is an important issue and should be dealt with to accelerate the shift towards sustainable aviation fuels. It also calls for stronger regulation and a more aggressive fight against fossils. It also demands support by the European Union for airlines that have been actively investing in SAFs through proper financial incentives and policy backing on future adoption of sustainable fuels.
The push toward green fuels is the strongest push that the aviation sector could give in the fight to combat climate change. Such an industry emits nearly 3 percent of the carbon in global emissions, and that amount is simply accrued mostly from air travels.
This is now the call of the day: rising air traffic translates into increasing demand for jet fuel, thus calling for even cleaner alternatives even more strongly. SAFs, indeed may be a door opener in respect to achieving net-zero aviation by 2050.
However, the development and production of sustainable fuels require significant investments not only from airlines but also from oil companies. Perhaps it is a pace too slow to help them become important contributors in reducing the contribution of aviation to greenhouse gases. This once again highlights the sectoral commitment toward SAFs and intercooperation between airlines, fuel suppliers, and policymakers.
Conclusion:The challenge to the aviation sector in switching to sustainable fuels is therefore quite sizeable, with many airlines that have not yet caught up and major oil companies that have not invested much in green fuel technologies. The climate goals of the sector can only be met by a greater effort on the part of all the stakeholders involved: airlines, fuel suppliers, and governments. This would lead to investment in sustainable aviation fuels, primarily e-kerosene, and thereby greener air travel.
Source: T&E