TECH TALK
adhere to so that they are permitted for use in regular passenger fl ights. SAFs are arguably the most
eff ective short-term action that aviation could take as an industry is to combat climate change. Research by NASA has identifi ed that a 50% aviation biofuel mixture can cut air pollution caused by air traffi c by an estimated 50 - 70%. Do these cost more? Yes. Is there an ample enough supply today to take over from petroleum fuel use? No. But both of these points could be solved in a few years if a serious eff ort were undertaken globally. Various airlines have experimented with using biofuels since they appeared onto the scene back in 2008. Due to supply and cost issues, none of these eff orts has been on a wide scale. Many of the earlier eff orts
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were based upon using algae as the prime source of feedstock, but this has not panned out commercially. The current focus is on using second- generation sustainable biofuels that do not compete with food crops or use large amounts of prime agricultural land or freshwater. Besides the problem of the actual supply of biofuels, distribution of it is also an issue since there are reportedly only fi ve airports that have regular biofuel distribution today (Bergen, Brisbane, Los Angeles, Oslo, and Stockholm), with others off ering sporadic supply, according to Wikipedia. For aviation to meet its goals relating to SAFs, fuel providers much expand their distribution to more airports once a large enough amount of alternative fuels are available.
Several airlines such as United Airlines have made recent announcements on how they are expanding their use of SAFs as well as funding companies that provide it. But due to the lack of supply and cost issues, this eff ort is falling short. The quickest and most expeditious
way that aviation can meet its shorter-term goals to combat climate change is biofuels. And until we get serious about funding and procuring long-term contracts with producers so that they can establish a business model based upon fi rm agreements, this will not happen in a meaningful way. The industry needs to mount an international eff ort to address this and do so in a single, loud voice to provide the alternative fuels companies with a means by which viable business plans can be identifi ed and funded. This is where an international organization such as IATA or ICAO could take the lead to work across borders to facilitate private industry moving forward faster and with less risk. There is no other viable short-term solution for aviation to do its part here.
John Pawlicki is CEO and principal of OPM Research. He also works with Information Tool Designers (ITD), where he consults to
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the DOT’s Volpe Center, handling various technology and cyber security projects for the FAA and DHS. He managed and deployed various products over the years, including the launch of CertiPath (with world’s fi rst commercial PKI bridge). John has also been onic FAA 8130-3 forms, as well as in defi ning digital identities with PKI. His recent publication, ‘Aerospace Marketplaces Report,’ which analyzed third-party sites that support the trading of aircraft parts, is available on
OPMResearch.com as a PDF download, or a printed book version is available on
Amazon.com.
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