Ongoing emissions from
… greenwashed fuels and engines
On a planet already dangerously hot, just stopping new emissions won’t make us safe. The CO2 already in the atmosphere must also be cut. So using existing CO2 — whether in plants (biofuel), in waste, or via Direct Air Capture combined with hydrogen electrically extracted from water (e-fuels) — to create new CO2 emissions, the so called net zero, carbon neutral technologies and pathways, is totally counterproductive. As are offsets for the same reason.
‘SUSTAINABLE’ AVIATION FUELS
The aviation industry uses marketing greenwash and accounting tricks to mislead you into thinking that actual flight emissions from ‘Sustainable’ Aviation Fuel (SAF) are a fraction of those from fossil jet fuel. A jet never burns pure SAF, so a common 50:50 blend with fossil jet fuel doubles claimed emissions. And actual flight CO2 emissions are additionally more than claimed, by the amount of CO2 drawn down in making the fuel. Furthermore SAF still creates non-CO2 emissions twice as warming as actual flight CO2 emissions.
• “Sustainable” aviation? Qantas’s climate policy is heading for a crash landing
https://www.climatecodered.org/2026/03/sustainable-aviation-qantass-climate.html
• Australia’s alternative fuel opportunities
https://www.csiro.au/en/news/All/Articles/2026/March/Liquid-Fuels
• UK Sustainable Aviation Fuel Act 2026
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2026/9/pdfs/ukpga_20260009_en.pdf
• Turning Farms Into Jet Fuel Factories Won’t Fix Aviation Emissions
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidblackmon/2026/03/10/turning-farms-into-jet-fuel-factories-wont-fix-aviation-emissions/
• Bristol Airport study explores nuclear derived sustainable aviation fuel
https://www.internationalairportreview.com/news/303452/bristol-airport-study-explores-nuclear-derived-sustainable-aviation-fuel/
• Equilibrion and Rolls-Royce SMR announce collaboration to advance the development of Sustainable Aviation Fuel using nuclear energy
https://www.niauk.org/equilibrion-and-rolls-royce-smr-announce-collaboration-to-advance-the-development-of-sustainable-aviation-fuel-using-nuclear-energy/
• Reducing the cost gap for sustainable aviation fuel through policy interventions: a case study of the Netherlands.
https://theicct.org/publication/reducing-the-cost-gap-for-sustainable-aviation-fuel-through-policy-intervention-a-case-study-in-the-netherlands-mar26/
• Why aviation’s fuel risk is no longer just about jet fuel pricing
https://www.ey.com/en_in/insights/consulting/why-aviation-s-fuel-risk-is-no-longer-just-about-jet-fuel-pricing
• Advancing Sustainable Aviation Goals for 2050
https://www.eplaneai.com/news/advancing-sustainable-aviation-goals-for-2050
• Sustainable Aviation: Can Air Travel Become Greener?
https://drifttravel.com/sustainable-aviation-can-air-travel-become-greener/
• Can green fuels clean up aviation? Scientists say the math doesn’t add up
https://www.aol.com/articles/green-fuels-clean-aviation-scientists-051654234.html
• Singapore’s SAF levy unlikely to impact demand for CORSIA credits
https://carbon-pulse.com/490833/
• EU confirms ReFuelEU Aviation SAF mandates will not be weakened
https://www.h2-view.com/story/eu-confirms-refueleu-aviation-saf-mandates-will-not-be-weakened/2138311.article/
• Eco Innovation Group, Inc. (ECOX) Provides Update on Kepler GTL Sustainable Aviation Fuel Initiative and Airline Supply Opportunities
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/eco-innovation-group-inc-ecox-120000234.html
• Jet Zero Taskforce reflects on decarbonisation progress during ‘challenging’ year
https://www.businessgreen.com/news/4527119/jet-zero-taskforce-reflects-decarbonisation-progress-challenging
• Keep crop-based fuels out of the UK SAF mandate
https://www.aef.org.uk/2026/02/11/keep-crop-based-fuels-out-of-the-uk-saf-mandate-says-aef/
• Food belongs on plates, not in plane engines: why crop-based fuels are a dead end for cleaning up UK aviation
https://www.transportenvironment.org/te-united-kingdom/articles/food-belongs-on-plates-not-in-plane-engines-why-crop-based-fuels-are-a-dead-end-for-cleaning-up-uk-aviation
E-SAF
• Solar energy could be key to making sustainable aviation fuel
https://sheffield.ac.uk/news/solar-energy-could-be-key-making-sustainable-aviation-fuel
… aviation growth
TRAFFIC
• The carbon footprint of air travel to UN climate conferences has increased 25-fold over three decades
https://www.nature.com/articles/s44458-026-00041-x
• Brussels must address the climate footprint of long-haul flights
https://www.transportenvironment.org/articles/letter-brussels-must-address-the-climate-footprint-of-long-haul-flights
AIRPORTS
• Building the business case for sustainable airports
https://www.burohappold.com/insights/building-the-business-case-for-sustainable-airports/
• Climate risk management in 21st century Aircraft and Airport Insurance
https://www.ishkaglobal.com/Savi/Article/8185/Climate-risk-management-in-21st-century-Aircraft-and-Airport-Insurance
… delusional scenarios
CARBON CREDITS & OFFSETS
When all sectors need to reduce their emissions to zero, the aviation industry buys/offsets the reductions of others in order to grow its own emissions. When the planet is already dangerously hot, offsets steal carbon drawdown needed to cool the planet to excuse further emissions.
• Emissions costs surge almost 400% for a major European airline group
https://carbon-pulse.com/488955/
• Boeing signs multi-year deal with Carbonfuture for carbon removal credits
https://www.greenairnews.com/?p=8691
• Abatable report forecasts new demand for 78m CORSIA credits to cover 2025 emissions
https://www.greenairnews.com/?p=8713
• The Sustainable Aviation Coalition To Invest Over $2.5M In Greenhouse Gas Removals
https://carbonherald.com/the-sustainable-aviation-coalition-to-invest-over-2-5m-in-greenhouse-gas-removals/
NET ZERO 2050
Net zero emissions by 2050 allows ongoing emissions and subtracts from them carbon drawdown needed to cool an already dangerously hot planet.
• SASHA Coalition Warns CORSIA Scheme Undermines Real Emissions Cuts In Aviation
https://carbonherald.com/sasha-coalition-warns-corsia-scheme-undermines-real-emissions-cuts-in-aviation/
• Presidential pardon gives no-cost airlines the all clear
https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2026/03/30/presidential-pardon-gives-no-cost-airlines-the-all-clear/
• From extreme scarcity to buyer uncertainty – is CORSIA’s greater challenge now demand?
https://carbon-pulse.com/498530/
• The UK’s plans and progress to reach net zero by 2050
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9888/
… non-CO2 emissions
• Pathways for including non-carbon dioxide aviation climate effects in the European Emission Trading System
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-026-03265-w
• EU ETS expansion to non-CO2 aviation impacts feasible but faces complex flight path -analysis
https://carbon-pulse.com/499402/
• The climate impact of contrails – why targeting a small share of flights could make a big difference
https://www.greenairnews.com/?p=8724
• Advito to add non-CO2 data to GATE4 Methodology
https://www.businesstravelnewseurope.com/Management/Advito-to-add-non-CO2-data-to-GATE4-Methodology
…greenwashing
• Beyond the Rhetoric of “Sustainable Aviation”: A Counterfactual Confrontation
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/400141219_Beyond_the_Rhetoric_of_Sustainable_Aviation_A_Counterfactual_Confrontation
Reporting emissions
• Japan Plans Source-Specific CO2 Monitoring From Satellites, Aircraft
https://aviationweek.com/aerospace/emerging-technologies/japan-plans-source-specific-co2-monitoring-satellites-aircraft
Reducing emissions
… marginally
FUEL STANDARDS
• ICAO Adopts Stricter CO2, Noise Standards for New Aircraft
https://www.flyingmag.com/icao-stricter-noise-co2-aircraft-standards/
• New aircraft will face stricter environmental standards
https://www.icao.int/news/new-aircraft-will-face-stricter-environmental-standards
RISING COSTS
• Private jet levies for equitable taxation
https://theicct.org/publication/private-jet-levies-for-equitable-taxation-mar26
• What price green skies?
https://www.aerosociety.com/news/what-price-green-skies/
• European airlines call on EU to lower carbon pricing and SAF costs
https://www.greenairnews.com/?p=8777
• Two of Australia’s largest sources of jet fuel could be cut off as South Korea and China eye restrictions
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/mar/30/australia-jet-fuel-crisis-south-korea-china-restrictions
… too late
Aviation fuel technologies, to be deployed across the global fleet in future decades, that cut emissions, won’t stop warming of 2ºC, now likely by 2040.
HYDROGEN FUEL
• Airbus slashes budget and delays hydrogen-powered aircraft program
https://thedriven.io/2025/02/12/airbus-slashes-budget-and-delays-hydrogen-powered-aircraft-program/
• Beyond Aero Evolves Hydrogen-Electric Business Aircraft Design
https://aviationweek.com/aerospace/aircraft-propulsion/beyond-aero-evolves-hydrogen-electric-business-aircraft-design
• Green NGOs and renewable fuel producers: Commission must resist pressure to reopen the rules governing renewable hydrogen
https://www.transportenvironment.org/articles/green-ngos-and-renewable-fuel-producers-commission-must-resist-pressure-to-reopen-the-rules-governing-renewable-hydrogen
ELECTRIC ENGINES
• New Electrified Engine Poised to Transform Aviation in the Next Decade
https://www.eplaneai.com/news/new-electrified-engine-poised-to-transform-aviation-in-the-next-decade
• Will the next disruptive plane be European?
https://www.transportenvironment.org/articles/will-the-next-disruptive-plane-be-european
… by civic action
• €16 million lawsuit against Frankfurt Airport owners for environmental destruction
https://stay-grounded.org/press-release-e16-million-lawsuit-against-frankfurt-airport-owners-for-environmental-destruction/
• Creative action and savvy strategy: Bristol Airport Struggle
https://stay-grounded.org/creative-action-and-savvy-strategy-bristol-airport-struggle/
… by demand reduction
• Flying Without Fossil Fuels: What Energy Supply for the Aviation Sector?
https://theshiftproject.org/en/publications/flying-without-fossil-fuels-what-energy-supply-for-the-aviation-sector/
Climate emergency
• A ‘planetary solvency plan’ in a divided world
https://www.patreon.com/posts/151993845
• Earth’s climate swings increasingly out of balance
https://wmo.int/media/news/earths-climate-swings-increasingly-out-of-balance
• Earth being ‘pushed beyond its limits’ as energy imbalance reaches record high
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/mar/23/earth-being-pushed-beyond-its-limits-as-energy-imbalance-reaches-record-high
• How secure is the world’s food supply? And what happens when the climate changes?
https://www.iied.org/collection/iied-food-security-index
• Far more countries face critical food insecurity if world heats up by 2C, analysis shows
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/mar/23/countries-critical-food-insecurity-global-heating
• Silence facilitates climate disinformation, and the government is complicit
https://johnmenadue.com/post/2026/03/silence-facilitates-climate-disinformation-and-the-government-is-complicit/
• The climate disinformation war
https://www.aslcg.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/ASLCG_ClimateDisinformation_BriefingPaper.pdf
• No worries? Australian attitudes to national security, risk and resilience
https://nsc.anu.edu.au/research/no-worries-australian-attitudes-national-security-risk-and-resilience
• Beyond carbon emissions: The dual climate benefit of SAF
https://www.neste.com/news-and-insights/aviation/beyond-carbon-emissions
• Almost half of industrial firms have faced climate-related disruption in the past two years
https://www.businessgreen.com/news/4527768/study-half-industrial-firms-faced-climate-related-disruption-past
