Pittsburgh airport’s sustainable aviation fuel initiatives gain global attention

PITTSBURGH — A new global report on sustainable aviation fuel development points out Pittsburgh International Airport’s multipronged initiative to build out what could be a wide-scale transition to low-carbon fuels for the airline and aviation industry despite cost and other barriers.

Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is made from sources other than the traditional petroleum-based fuel, including biomass, animal or plant oil, fermented fuel or ethanol that can be converted through an industrial process and then blended with the existing Jet A fuel to lower carbon emissions. SAF has had a 20-year history of success, but it remains isolated and it’s not in wide use due to its cost to commercially scale, the report from PA Consulting said.

“This isn’t a technology, innovation or attitudinal issue,” according to the report. “It’s an ‘all-of-it-at-once problem.’ The SAF system — from the value chain through to its regulatory and policy frameworks — isn’t interconnected or collaborative enough to respond to a whole-industry challenge.”