Innovation in the Skies

The path toward widespread use of sustainable fuels across aviation

Chicago from the top of the Willis Tower, United Airlines’ headquarters

On September 27, stakeholders across aviation, local government, advocacy, universities, and corporate sustainability gathered in Chicago for a day-long summit about the role that sustainable fuels play in the future of air travel. Hosted by United Airlines and Clean Energy Trust, with support from Boeing and BP, the summit featured keynote speakers and panelists who gave their perspectives on how the aviation industry can deliver positive environmental impact and support economic development through the use of sustainable fuels, all in a way that makes good business sense.

The list below is Clean Energy Trust’s compilation of the summit’s top ten takeaways:

1. Sustainable fuels present a big opportunity. United alone purchases 4 billion gallons of fuel annually, which represents its second largest, and most uncertain, operating expense. Transitioning to sustainable aviation fuels is financially wise and has the potential to reduce the magnitude of United’s emissions by an amount equivalent to removing 4.5 million cars from the road. What if the airline industry as a whole made such a transition? United is hoping to drive this change as witnessed in its recently announced commitment to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2050 and to fuel its fleet with sustainable aviation fuels.
2. Sustainable fuels work and are available today. United has continuously flown jets from Los Angeles using sustainable aviation fuels since 2016 and recently flew from San Francisco to Zurich using sustainable aviation fuels, both made possible by World Energy. Virgin Atlantic made a transatlantic flight using sustainable aviation fuels from LanzaTech, made from factory pollution. The technology is imperative, as other low-emissions solutions such as batteries, fuel cells, and hybrid engine aircraft are not yet practical solutions, particularly for any applications beyond short-haul, regional flights.
3. Sustainable fuel costs are declining. With each successive refining plant that is built, efficiencies are gained and costs drop. Robust policies and incentives are needed to spur further development of plants across the U.S. to continue driving costs down and to increase fuel availability for carriers.
4. Spinning up the circular economy. Fuels come from a variety of different sources, and it is important to look beyond biomass for solutions. Aviation biofuels in use today are made from garbage (known as “Municipal Solid Waste” or MSW), inedible agricultural products, and steel plant emissions (carbon emissions as an opportunity!). These solutions from companies like Fulcrum BioEnergy, World Energy, and LanzaTech utilize waste streams and often receive these feedstocks for free.
5. The sustainable fuels conversation is cloistered. While aircraft manufacturers, airlines, airports, and biofuel producers are frequent participants in the conversation, policymakers are not. It is important to educate policymakers, particularly those interested in environmental sustainability, about the positive economic and environmental impact sustainable fuels can create.
6. Customer engagement is tricky. Sustainable fuels don’t look or feel any different to travelers, so how can airlines educate customers and get them engaged in their mission to use sustainable fuels? The commercial aviation community needs to get creative in how they market sustainable fuels and how they enable customers to make the most sustainable decisions when purchasing air travel.
7. Corporate carbon footprints matter. Corporates and large organizations such as universities care about their carbon footprints, and their Scope 3 emissions from travel are a big part. So much so that many are consciously replacing air travel with other tools and strategies for conducting business. Moreover, organizations are realizing that their employees and clients care about sustainability and that the old ways of thinking about business travel (just go!) are no longer as acceptable due to environmental concerns.
8. Policy matters. The development of the sustainable aviation fuels supply chain and broad adoption by the airline industry is hindered by the lack of consistent and supportive policies. Moreover, most are focused on the ground transportation industry and fail to call out aviation applications. Federal policy, particularly in the form of carbon policy, would be a major driver for sustainable fuels. State policies are equally, if not more, impactful. California recently mandated that fuel producers reduce the carbon intensity of their fuel by 20% by 2030 (and 10% by 2020); California is also offering incentives for alternative aviation fuels. Finally, it was called out that such clarity and consistency has to extend to standard setting such as ASTM.
9. Sustainable fuels present an economic and environmental victory. With the creation of jobs and reduction of Greenhouse Gas emissions from standard jet fuel, sustainable fuels are a win-win innovation across the aviation industry. The jobs message must not be overlooked.
10. Keep the conversation going to maximize progress! The aviation community should attend summit activities, engage with relevant accelerator programs, and develop tasks forces with peers. Most importantly, stakeholders should talk to policymakers about potential incentives, mandates, and policy solutions. The industry should consider engaging in conversation with associations such as the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators, the National Governors Association, and the National Conference of State Legislators to extend the conversation to new audiences.

United Airlines and Clean Energy Trust would like to thank event sponsors, BP and Boeing, as well as all of the attendees who helped make the summit a big success.