For business aircraft operators, the benefits of sustainability can extend beyond just having a smaller environmental footprint, Clay Lacy Aviation senior v-p of development and sustainability Scott Cutshall said yesterday at AIN’s Building a Sustainable Flight Department forum. In fact, the aircraft charter, management, MRO, and FBO company is starting to see a competitive advantage in the marketplace because of its sustainability efforts, not to mention that it is also helping to attract employees in a tight labor market, according to Cutshall.
“We’re starting to see interest in sustainability from potential customers,” he said. “Some of them have started asking if we have a sustainability plan in place. When we answer yes, many drill down even deeper by asking how we can reduce their Scope 3 (indirect) emissions. So it really is becoming a competitive advantage for us.”
Meanwhile, Cutshall said, “Don’t underestimate what employees think about sustainability.” As an example, a new-hire Gen Z employee recently told Clay Lacy’s HR department in a routine one-month onboarding interview that the main reason they were attracted to the company was due to its sustainability program. “So it is having an impact beyond decreasing our emissions,” he added.
Cutshall also stressed that sustainability doesn’t need to come at the expense of economic viability. “Clay Lacy is proof that you can be both sustainable and profitable,” he concluded.
Many business aircraft operators assume becoming more sustainable means buying premium-priced sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and/or carbon offsets, but wringing more efficiencies out of operations doesn’t cost anything and can actually save money while boosting sustainability, Gulfstream director of demonstration and corporate flight operations Scott Evans told attendees yesterday at the AIN Building a Sustainable Flight Department forum in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
“SAF is definitely one of the operational considerations to lower emissions, but it’s not the only one,” he said. “Operators can also fly at optimum altitudes and speeds, especially when there are no passengers on board. They can also operate at minimum weights, in part by eliminating unnecessary items on board the aircraft and curbing fuel tankering. Other measures include minimizing taxi time, reducing APU usage, and keeping the aircraft clean to lessen drag.”
Upgrading aircraft is another way to lower emissions, Evans said, noting that the Gulfstream G500 is 32 percent more efficient than previous-generation large-cabin jets.
Overall, Gulfstream views itself as the industry leader on sustainability, he said. In fact, Evans noted that Gulfstream has purchased more than 1.6 million gallons of SAF since 2016, reducing CO2 emissions by more than 3,400 tonnes for some 700 of its flight-test and demonstration flights. The company is also incorporating the latest energy-efficient standards into the new facilities it is building.
A new start – with SAF
First of its kind, SAFinity combines sustainable projects with a direct investment in Sustainable Aviation Fuel. The goal is to further support and accelerate the availability and use of SAF in the aviation industry. The service is available for all aircraft and engines from any manufacturers and is part of our ongoing ambition to play a leading role in enabling the sectors in which we operate to reach net zero carbon by 2050.
“Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is the only pathway for business aircraft flight departments to meaningfully reduce Scope 1 (direct) emissions,” Darren Fuller, v-p of business development for business aviation at World Fuel Services, told attendees yesterday at AIN’s Building a Sustainable Flight Department forum. “Supply is the biggest impediment to its wider adoption, and operators need to make big public commitments to SAF—this is required for investment in SAF production.” According to Fuller, the U.S. has only one operational SAF refinery (in Southern California), with two more planned on the West Coast and another under construction in the Southeast.
While Fuller said SAF “is jet-A,” the difference is that with SAF “aircraft operators are paying more for an associated reduction in carbon.” That reduction, he explained, comes from the sourcing of the fuel, which at present typically comes from woody biomass, animal meat waste, or used cooking oil. “With SAF we’re reusing carbon that is already above the ground; with jet-A, we’re taking a carbon bank out of the ground and adding more carbon into the atmosphere when we use it,” he added.
Even when SAF supply rises it still won’t be available at every airport, so Fuller said operators will need to use book-and-claim as a strategy to reduce their carbon footprint.
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.
Europe is taking a “stick” approach to reducing aircraft CO2 emissions, while the U.S. is going the “carrot” route, General Aviation Manufacturers Association director of government affairs Marc Ehudin explained yesterday at AIN’s Building a Sustainable Flight Department forum in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The U.S. is aiming for net-zero emissions for aviation by 2050, while the European Union (EU) is targeting a 55 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
Under the EU’s “Fit for 55” proposal, fuel suppliers would be required to meet certain targets in delivering sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and “e-fuels”—including electric and hydrogen—to “major” EU airports. SAF would need to equate to 2 percent of fuel delivered in 2025 and gradually rise to 63 percent SAF and 28 percent e-fuels in 2050. The EU is also mulling a $1.73 per gallon tax on jet-A to incentivize SAF purchases. However, Ehudin pointed out that the likely concentration of SAF at airline airports combined with the jet-A tax would penalize business aircraft operators flying into non-major airports.
Meanwhile, the U.S.’s SAF Grand Challenge would provide up to $4.3 billion in funding to support SAF projects and production. The challenge, which was announced on September 9, seeks to increase SAF production from about four million gallons in 2019 to three billion gallons annually in 2030.
AINalerts News Tips/Feedback: News tips may be sent anonymously, but feedback must include name and contact info (we will withhold name on request). We reserve the right to edit correspondence for length, clarity and grammar. Send feedback or news tips to AINalerts editor Chad Trautvetter.
AINalerts is a publication of AIN Media Group, 214 Franklin Avenue, Midland Park, New Jersey. Copyright 2021. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is strictly prohibited.
