IATA confident about key role for SAF in future of aviation

Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) will play a key role in aviation sector's net zero 2050 journey, says the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The demand for SAF is growing and so is production, IATA stated.

In 2022, global SAF production tripled to some 300 million litres. The overall renewable fuel production in the world is expected to reach an estimated capacity of at least 69 billion litres (55 million tonnes) by 2028.

According to the organization, sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) will comprise a portion of this growing output which is being achieved through new renewable fuel refineries and the expansion of existing facilities.

“The expected production increase is extremely encouraging”, said Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general, in a report by Gulf Business. “Seeing this, we need governments to act to ensure that SAF gets its fair production share. That means, in the first instance, production incentives, to support aviation’s energy transition. And we need continued approval for more diversification of methods and feedstocks available for SAF production.”

IATA expects that, with these measures successfully in place, the 2028 production levels will be realistically aligned with recently published IATA roadmaps to net zero carbon emissions by 2050. “That is important as we are counting on SAF to provide about 62 per cent of the carbon mitigation needed in 2050.”