Dubai—The UAE aviation industry, the world's sixth biggest CO2 polluter, is making headway in developing and using sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, in flights as part of efforts to lower emissions but its goals may not be attainable, given the infancy of the non-conventional commodity.
Aviation bodies like the International Air Transport Association, or IATA, are banking on SAF to help meet emissions targets. IATA and its members have committed to halve carbon emissions from 2005 levels by 2050.The UAE, which counts the aviation industry as a bulwark of its economy, is jumping on the energy transition bandwagon as part of efforts to improve its image in a world more conscious about carbon footprints. The Gulf country's passenger air transport industry emitted 21.1 million mt of CO2 in 2018, making it the sixth biggest polluter globally, according to data from the International Civil Aviation Organization.
"One of the challenges of SAF is the price, and supply and demand," said Maryam al-Balooshi, environment manager at the UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority. "An investment in the technology is a must to improve the production. We are planning to have a low carbon aviation fuel with lower carbon intensity once all the research and feasibility studies are done."
World's busiest airportUAE's airports rely on long-haul international and transit travel through the two main hubs in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, exacerbating their emissions levels. The Dubai International Airport was the world's busiest for international travel in 2019, handling 86.4 million passengers.
Already two major airlines in the UAE have conducted flights partially using SAF.
Emirates Airline, the world's largest operator of long-haul flights in 2019, received its 116th A380 aircraft Dec. 5 in a delivery flight that used a blend of jet fuel and SAF -- a first for the Dubai-based carrier. The SAF was derived from cooking oil produced in Finland.
"We are watching developments in sustainable aviation fuel very closely, and we look forward to a time when it can be produced at scale, and in a cost competitive manner," said Tim Clark, president of Emirates, in a Dec. 7 statement.
Sustainability bondThe Abu Dhabi-based carrier Etihad Airways has taken its sustainability target one step further.
It sold in October a $600 million Islamic bond, or sukuk, linked to its carbon reduction targets. The airline has made a commitment to net zero carbon emissions by 2050, a 50% reduction in net emissions by 2035, and a 20% reduction in emissions intensity in its passenger fleet by 2025.
Emirates has no such targets.
In January 2019, Etihad flew a Boeing 787 using a blend of conventional jet fuel and SAF, derived from oil in Salicornia plants, which were grown on a two-hectare farm in clean-energy Masdar City in Abu Dhabi. State-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Co, the UAE's biggest energy producer, was involved in the refining process of the oil.
"There is a lot of expertise in that part of the world [Middle East] in big scale refineries," said Robert Boyd, IATA lead on SAF. "That's one part of the puzzle of SAF we need to get better at to bring some of that big picture expertise to what is at the moment pretty small modular facilities."
SAF penetrationSAF usage globally remains miniscule. The first continuous production of SAF started in 2016 and so far about 45 airlines have tested it. Using SAF is an approximately 80% improvement in CO2 reduction relative to conventional jet fuel, according to Boyd.
"We think in 2020 there will be 60 [million] to 80 million liters [per year] of SAF produced and used globally," he said. "By 2025, we are comfortable that 2% [SAF penetration] is achievable if the right policy mechanism sits behind it, so 2% would be around 6.5 billion liters [per year]. You might see system penetration get to around 5% by around 2030."
But SAF prices remain high, which may dissuade airlines like those in the UAE from relying on it. Despite the emissions' advantages of SAF, its cost on average is 1.5 to 4 times higher than conventional fuel, whose price is very low at the moment, Boyd said.
Ticket prices"Sustainable aviation fuel prices should be competing so that they won't cascade to passengers and affect the prices of tickets as well. So, we need to be balanced," said Balooshi.
Her comments were echoed by Emirates, which operated the world's biggest fleet of A380 and Boeing's 777 aircrafts prior to the coronavirus pandemic.
"We are open to the use of SAF where it becomes available at airports on our network, however the cost of SAF is still a significant consideration, and we expect that it will take time for prices to come down," an Emirates spokesperson said.
