In a 2022 survey of business travel industry professionals by the Global Business Travel Association, 88% of respondents ranked reducing emissions as their top priority for the next two to three years. At pre-pandemic levels, the aviation industry was responsible for 2–3% of global carbon emissions – but this will grow if aviation does not keep pace with wider decarbonisation efforts.

Increasing industry use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is critical to reducing emissions in this sector. Short and medium term, SAF is the only commercially viable alternative to traditional fossil jet fuels – comparatively, it can reduce emissions by 80% or more on a lifecycle basis. Furthermore, SAF does not involve modifying existing aircraft or airport infrastructure and can be made from a variety of renewable resources.

However, SAF is currently two to eight times more expensive than conventional jet fuel. With fuel accounting for a significant share of operating costs, airlines alone cannot afford to find the green premium needed to decarbonise aviation. The SAF market is also fragmented and insufficient demand can prevent investment, expansion and increased supply. While SAF production is set to increase with new capacity coming online in 2025, exponential growth is needed to significantly reduce emissions.

The imminent need for more SAF production
This is the decade of delivery. SAF production facilities take years to finance and construct. Decisions made by business leaders today will determine whether, in 2030, we stagnate at 1% SAF or achieve 10% (which means the aviation industry could be on track to decarbonise by mid-century).

According to the World Economic Forum:

• 0.1% of jet fuel is presently SAF (200,000 tonnes), compared to fossil-based jet fuel (300mn tonnes).
• 1% of jet fuel could be SAF in 2030 (4mn tonnes) if all publicly announced projects are completed.
• 10% of jet fuel sales could be SAF in 2030, based upon sustainable feedstock availability and if investment capital is secured.

Net zero emissions by 2050 are feasible if SAF production capacity can be scaled up by a factor of 35–45 compared with existing or planned plants, concludes a recent report by the Mission Possible Partnership. Boom Technology estimates that if SAF scales at the rate of solar energy, it could reach projected international jet fuel demand by 2036. Promisingly, the SAF industry displays the early-stage growth patterns of comparable renewable energy industries.  

Scaling SAF 
Ultimately, existing problems are solvable, and scale is the solution. A global book-and-claim system, powered by blockchain, could help build the foundation of the SAF industry.

In June 2022, Amex GBT launched a landmark SAF pilot programme for business travel with Shell Aviation. The pilot programme is operated on Avelia, the newly launched blockchain-powered book-and-claim platform developed by Shell and Accenture, with the support of the Energy Web Foundation (EWF).

By bringing corporations and airlines together via our business travel service, which includes 40 of the top 100 companies by travel spend, Avelia pools demand for SAF. It is the largest SAF book-and-claim pilot at launch, offering around 1mn gallons of SAF – enough to power almost 15,000 individual business traveller flights from London to New York.

The book-and-claim model, which has proved successful with consumers buying renewable electricity, provides an avenue to connect demand with supply. This investment structure helped renewables become cost competitive with fossil fuel power generation (people understand that green electrons are commingled in the grid – just like SAF is blended with conventional jet fuel).

Advantages of global book-and-claim
Book-and-claim overcomes the issue of only a few airports around the world having SAF available by allowing SAF to enter the fuel network regardless of where the purchase is made. A global book-and-claim system would enable SAF to be produced where it is best suited geographically and logistically based upon feedstock availability – without the additional cost and complexity of delivering fuel to a specific consumer.

With Avelia, corporate travellers can pay for SAF, and their company can benefit, even if the fuel does not end up being used on their specific flight. Blockchain proves an equivalent amount of fuel is fed into the aviation fuel system, accomplishing the same overall goal and signalling greater demand to spur further SAF production. By putting SAF into the fuel network where it is available, book-and-claim also avoids emissions generated through the unnecessary transport of SAF. This enables low carbon fuels to stay local.

Blockchain technology would provide traceability along the SAF supply chain, enabling accurate and verifiable carbon accounting. For our pilot, blockchain is used to track SAF from production to entry into the fuel network and ensure secured allocation of SAF’s environmental attributes. This is the proof of progress airlines and corporations are demanding to achieve their sustainability targets.

SAF is the powerful decarbonisation tool the aviation industry needs, and it is available today. Book-and-claim and blockchain are proven solutions driving energy transitions in other sectors, and they are sustainability levers we can pull today. By demonstrating the viability of these solutions, we can drive acceptance, embolden the emerging SAF industry, and reach destination zero.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are strictly those of the author only and are not necessarily given or endorsed by or on behalf of the Energy Institute.