SAF Handbook | IATA
IATA’s five Net Zero Roadmaps1, published in June 2023, describe the potential trajectories, covering 130 milestones, to meet aviation’s goal of bringing air transportation to net zero carbon emissions by 2050. In all the scenarios and over that full time horizon, Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) play the largest role in aviation’s decarbonization.
According to the roadmaps, 62% of aviation’s carbon emissions reduction by 2050 needs to be realized through SAF. This will require an unprecedented ramp-up of SAF production, both in terms of the speed at which capacity needs to develop and the quantities that will need to be produced between now and 2050, and beyond.
While reaching net zero carbon by 2050 will require broad availability of SAF globally, the pace at which airlines adopt its use and are able to claim the associated benefits will differ depending on factors such as the role that SAF plays in their own decarbonization strategies over time, participation in regulatory or voluntary schemes, stakeholder demands, and specific agreements with corporate customers. Airlines are at the center of the air transport value chain, and their role in scaling up SAF deployment cannot be underestimated. Buying and using SAF is a complex process that requires collaboration across the sector, including internal and external stakeholders who have traditionally not been an active part of a fuel procurement process or involved in decarbonization initiatives
