Barry Law Environmental and Earth Law Journal

The airline industry makes up 9-12% of all U.S. transportation greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions. [1] Though some may think of commercial planes as gas-guzzling flying behemoths, others see them as a greener travel option due to their ability to transport hundreds of people at once. [2] With the view of continuing the push towards a more carbon neutral transportation sector, the current administration continues to push the transportation industry to find greener options. [3] Also, the current societal and consumer demand shift for companies to be greener creates additional pressure to the aviation sector to invest in environmentally conscious options. [4] But this goal comes with its challenges. Airlines spend ridiculous amounts of money every time they take off. The aviation industry is interesting as it is one the few that has extremely high fixed costs with very little room to profit. [5] So, how does the aviation industry that can only survive if they are as efficient as possible change its ways to meet the greener demand? Well, efficiency may just be the answer. 

Though an airplane’s appearance has not changed much since the first jet airliners, below the surface, technology developments have led to new adaptions in fuel efficiency by means of their design. For example, one of the reasons why commercial airplanes are getting bigger is not just to fit more people, but it also helps the airlines be both more fuel and cost efficient on a per-passenger basis. [6] Dramatic changes in the design of a new kind of greener, prettier, and more efficient aircraft may be the long term goal, but in the short term, airlines are looking for a solution without breaking the bank. [7] This short-term solution may lie with changes to jet fuel. 

The largest annual expense to an airline (after labor) is jet fuel. United Airlines in 2019 spent a whopping $8.9 billion in jet fuel. [8] “Since the start of 2022, the price of jet fuel increased by approximately 90 percent and costs roughly 120 percent more, on average, than it did in 2021.” [9] How does an airline compensate to such an increase in fuel costs? By charging the passenger more. [8] Yet, despite the more substantial hit to the average flyer’s wallet, the demand to fly has not slowed. [10] This expensive time for an airline might be the perfect opportunity to push for greener jet fuel solutions – and it lies with Sustainable Aviation Fuel (“SAF”). [11] 

Sustainable Aviation Fuel is a biofuel that is similar to typical jet fuel but allows for a reduction in GHG emissions. [11] SAF is derived from feedstocks, which are produced from sustainable resources other than fossil fuels. [12] Feedstocks come from a variety of places including cooking oils, plant oils, municipal waste, and agricultural residues. In some cases, SAFs have been shown to provide up to 80% significant reductions in overall CO2 lifecycle emissions compared to fossil fuels. SAF’s are also convenient because they are considered drop-in fuels, which means they can be automatically incorporated into the existing airport fueling systems. [13] They are currently being used by mixing with regular jet fuel and there is research being done to increase the ratio of jet fuel to SAF to hopefully provide even cleaner results. Because these fuels are a drop-in, they provide airlines with an efficient, greener option for airlines due to their scalability. [6] 

Despite all the overwhelming benefits to incorporating SAFs, the problem lies in the incentive to actually use them. This biofuel option is currently more expensive to produce than jet fuel.  [14] With it being more expensive to produce, the supply is low and the cost to the airline can be even more than traditional jet fuel. This is a big problem for an efficiency dependent industry. As an answer to this problem, the Biden administration has introduced a tax credit to provide another incentive for more production of SAF. The goal of this tax credit is to encourage more production of SAFs, which will hopefully decrease the cost to airlines. [15] With the news of the tax incentive, Delta and Southwest Airlines have responded with goals to replace 10% of their jet fuel used with SAF by 2030. [16] This is a positive shift towards greater implementation of SAF for commercial airlines. 

The implementation of sustainable aviation fuels is a short term, efficient, and relatively easy way for the aviation industry to shift more towards a greener future. With production challenges still an issue, it may be a slower change than the public and the government wants. Though it may take time for us to be flying around in completely net-zero emission, futuristic looking planes of the Jetsons, the progress is taking off, and we should all breathe easier knowing that. 

Written by 2022-2023 Associate Editor, Rebecca McReynolds.