November 30, 2023
Here’s a small piece of good news on the climate change front: On Tuesday, a Virgin Atlantic commercial jet flew nonstop from London to New York powered only by sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), a category of jet fuel that creates fewer carbon emissions than standard kerosene blends. The fuel on this flight was made from waste fats and plant sugars and emits 70% less carbon than petroleum-based jet fuel.
It’s not ALL good news, however: Virgin Atlantic’s 100% SAF flight is a one-time stunt, and the airline won’t regularly offer all-SAF flights. Standard jet engines aren’t designed to run on only sustainable fuel, and it is too expensive and rare for it to be practical for airlines to run all-SAF routes.
SAF may one day play a big role in shrinking the aviation industry’s carbon footprint (according to NOAA, the industry accounts for 3.5% of climate change) but, at the moment, SAF accounts for about 0.1% of airlines’ current fuel consumption.