Business aviation operators seeking to become more sustainable don’t need to dive in head-first, according to Nancy Bsales, the COO at aviation sustainability consultancy 4AIR. “Set small goals now—such as committing to buying sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) equating to 5 percent of your total fuel uptake—and then increase it later,” she told attendees yesterday at AIN’s Building a Sustainable Flight Department forum. “Even just one SAF uplift is a step.”
She added that flight departments should start off by measuring emissions to get a baseline for comparison and then budget to purchase a certain amount of SAF and/or carbon credits. According to Bsales, the price premium for a 30 percent SAF blend is about $1.50 per gallon, while carbon offset credits cost between $8 and $20 per tonne of emitted CO2.
Carbon offset credit prices are increasing due to rising demand, but Bsales sees this as a good thing because SAF becomes a more viable option. She believes SAF should be an operator’s first choice in their quest to become more carbon-neutral since this reduces direct emissions, with carbon offset credits used to “bridge the gap.”
4AIR is also working with the University of Cambridge in the UK to source SAF at lower costs to make it more affordable for business aircraft operators to use.