Aviation is the epitome of a global system at work. Every aircraft can use any airport and its supporting infrastructure, be refuelled, turned around and dispatched anywhere else in the world (with some technical exceptions). An obvious statement, but one which represents a much deeper meaning particularly regarding #sustainability. This map of flight paths is from 2014 and illustrates the extent of the system and how significant the sector was then - it has only continued to grow since.
If the #aviation sector were to co-ordinate in a unified effort to become #sustainable, it would require maintaining as much of this system as possible - for a very simple reason - the global aviation system embodies a huge amount of carbon already in it. If the world were to move to a different technology/energy source for aviation, that would entail changing every aircraft, every engine, every airport, and every piece of national & international fuelling infrastructure.
This activity would not only be preventatively expensive and time consuming, but it would also entail the release of a truly significant amount of 'new' CO2.
This is exactly the reason why #SAF is the answer to aviation's sustainability needs; it maintains as much of the existing system as possible. Sustainable Aviation Fuels are also the quickest route to #decarbonising aviation, and the least costly. Critically SAF is the greenest #solution for the sector when the end-to-end system is considered - which is far beyond thinking about decarbonising only the acidity of flying.
I am immensely proud of the mission we are on at CirculAIRity and pioneering work we are delivering to produce synthetic SAF at scale.
SVP @ Alix Partners
3wCould you comment on the impact with regards to SFC or thrust performance ? Ballpark ?