Webinar: Experts See Carbon-Free Future Aviation Industry

On June 1st, Clean Energy for America hosted a 101 webinar, explaining the latest and greatest in clean energy. This time the topic was decarbonizing the aviation industry.

Moderated by Maria Martinez of Breakthrough Energy, the panel included Jason Salfi of Dimensional Energy, Alex Minotti of LanzaJet, and Todd Solomon of ZeroAvia.

They explained how the aviation industry is one of the hardest sectors to decarbonize. “Aviation accounts for 3% of global emissions today [and]… it's likely to double in the next two decades” warned Martinez. But, the panelists agree that the solution lies in “deploying clean jet fuels to replace the existing sort of fossil fuel based kerosene that powers most aviation today.”

These sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) are made via biological processes, via wood debris or french fry grease, or non-biological processes, via captured carbon, for example.

Solomon also underscored the importance of investing in hydrogen, which would enable companies like ZeroAvia to access more funding, allowing them to meet the needs of their  customers. Further, leveraging the experience of legacy fossil fuel companies in managing hydrogen would foster collaboration and facilitate a smoother industry-wide transition to clean energy.

“We all have such faith in our technology. [But] it’s really about how we pay the way there.” stated Solomon, and that funding is more accessible now, thanks to President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act. “We have the new SAF Blenders Tax Credit” for two years, stated Minotti.

The time is now. The technology “is ready to go,” stated Salfi.
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