JetBlue announced in January that it intended to become a carbon-neutral airline. To reduce its net carbon footprint, it would begin purchasing carbon offsets—credits generated by sponsoring activities and investments designed to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions. Its flights originating in San Francisco would use a low-emissions substitute for jet-A refined from a mess of pottage that includes used cooking oil, animal and fish fat, tall-oil pitch (a byproduct of pulping wood), and—get ready—“spent bleaching earth oil.”
Technicalities: Making Aviation Sustainable
Key Takeaways:
- Airlines are pursuing carbon neutrality using sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) derived from various sources, but this initiative faces significant political controversy despite the technical feasibility of adapting jet engines.
- Current biomass-based SAFs have limitations in efficiency and resource use, while promising alternatives like algae-based fuels are still far from industrial scale.
- While pure electric flight is unsuitable for long-range aircraft due to battery limitations, hybrid-electric systems and hydrogen fuel cells are being explored as future solutions for shorter-range or specialized aviation.
- The transition to sustainable aviation will require decades of development in new fuels and aircraft configurations, representing a crucial, albeit long-term, innovation for the industry.
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