Lack of SAF may possibly keep back again air cargo progress

Updated 17.2.23 TO Involve Comment FROM STAN WRIAGHT.

Airlines might have to pick out among progress and the surroundings, as shipper needs for decarbonising intensify and output of sustainable aviation gas stays small.

Celine Hourcade, founder and MD of Change Horizon, informed The Loadstar the aviation sector’s hopes of both reaching net zero by 2050, when even now at least doubling its targeted visitors each and every calendar year, was “wishful thinking”.

She stated: “My concerns are that SAF is extremely significantly continue to in the investigation and progress section, and we are significantly from certain we’ve adequate for all the other sectors betting on it. I would not be stunned if entry was limited to necessary actions.”

Ecommerce is a substantial expansion industry, with some 80% of cross-border e-commerce transported by air, but IATA reported desire for ability was surging, with 59% of e-commerce shippers expressing air cargo only partly satisfies their requirements.

Responding to this, airways have been altering their fleets and looking for increased marketplace share in the booming sector, with regional airports also benefiting from need. But Ms Hourcade reported that though sectors these as pharma may well get ability in a SAF-limited market place, e-commerce could wrestle.

She additional: “E-commerce may possibly obtain alone at the back again of the queue, if [we] can’t meet SAF demand. I simply cannot see governments prioritising e-commerce accessibility to limited SAF stock.

“E-commerce logistics, as we know it, is not sustainable. It has a significant carbon footprint, squander from unnecessarily too much packaging, item waste from insufficient return logistics flows and there are social impacts.”

Nonetheless, Stan Wraight, CEO of consultancy SASI, mentioned: “This check out is ill-educated, that e-commerce will go through, vs . say Pharma which has an infinitesimal share of world wide air cargo actions in contrast to e-commerce.

“E-commerce has a a lot greater produce for airways, and has a better quantity to excess weight ratio (1:8 or even 1:10) this usually means plane quantity out right before excess weight, equating to much less gas burn and many others.

“Sustainability is on everyone’s head and rightly so, and SAF is only one particular component amongst lots of that are getting seemed at by qualified aviation stakeholders to minimize both equally CO2 and Nox emissions.”

A spokesperson for FlyORO, a specialist in the jet gas provide chain, agreed it was anticipating “a SAF feedstock provide crunch”.

Pointing to growing desire from aviation, as well as hefty trucking and liner shipping, jet fuel offer chain organization FlyORO informed The Loadstar that, supplied the current price of SAF generation, a world offer crunch was presently most likely, driving the expenses to obtain SAF upwards.

“There is substantial demand from customers for SAF feedstocks – especially plant oils, cooking oils  and animal fat, which can be refined to make renewable diesel and SAF,” reported the spokesperson.

“This influences the value of generation, top to a significant rate for utilization of renewable fuels (at the very least two times as highly-priced), which then potential customers to the dilemma of who pays the quality and if governments are aiding ease these pain factors.”

A DHL spokesperson claimed the firm observed no “direct correlation” involving e-commerce and SAF availability and accessibility, telling The Loadstar: “SAF, and other sustainable fuels, will engage in an crucial purpose in decarbonising transportation of cargo, which includes e-commerce shipments.

“Our GoGreen Plus company is based on an insetting approach, the place clients are made available options for minimising logistics-connected emissions together the total offer chain. This is facilitating a sustainable fuel swap, whereby carriers eat sustainable gas on behalf of DHL. Subsequently, the resulting Scope 3 emission reductions are handed on to DHL to be allotted to cargo owners.”

Carriers have faced rising scrutiny from shippers, with 1 shipper on a panel at the Planet Cargo Summit in Abu Dhabi this month urging airways to strengthen their routings.

“Shippers I spoke with in various sectors are demanding carbon info from air cargo, and when they do not have it, they test to compute it themselves,” explained Ms Hourcade. “When they do this, they pay out attention to the routing as the distance flown is an significant element of the calculation.

“Then they can commence difficult airlines on their network tactics and routings, in addition to the form of aircraft and load components.”