3 Jan '26

Newslinks: December 2025

January 3, 2026

NEWS

Ongoing emissions from

… greenwashed fuels and engines

‘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.

• DHL Signs Major SAF Deal with Neste Ahead of New EU Rules
https://carboncredits.com/dhl-signs-major-saf-deal-with-neste-ahead-of-new-eu-rules/

• Harvard Researchers Turn City Trash into Sustainable Jet Fuel
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/12/11/jet-fuel-seas-study/

• Million Air and Avfuel bring sustainable aviation fuel to Austin
https://biofuels-news.com/news/million-air-and-avfuel-bring-sustainable-aviation-fuel-to-austin/

• Why Aviation’s Climate Solution Still Trades at a 570% Premium
https://energynews.biz/why-aviations-climate-solution-still-trades-at-a-570-premium/

• Comparison of life cycle emissions of Alcohol-to-Jet Sustainable Aviation Fuels from selected energy plants
https://www.jeeng.net/Comparison-of-life-cycle-emissions-of-Alcohol-to-Jet-Sustainable-Aviation-Fuels-from,215729,0,2.html

• Salvador Bahia Airport becomes Brazil’s first to supply Sustainable Aviation Fuel for regular flights
https://www.internationalairportreview.com/news/301297/salvador-bahia-airport-becomes-brazils-first-to-supply-sustainable-aviation-fuel-for-regular-flights/

• Petrobras SAF is milestone for sustainable aviation
https://bricsbrasil.com.br/en/saf-petrobras/

• Alcohol-To-Jet Conversion
https://energy.sustainability-directory.com/area/alcohol-to-jet-conversion/

• Sustainable aviation fuel boost: Korea targets 10% cut in airport carbon emissions by 2030
https://bioenergytimes.com/sustainable-aviation-fuel-boost-korea-targets-10-cut-in-airport-carbon-emissions-by-2030/

SAF SUPPLY ISSUES

• Neste rows back on climate commitments
https://www.aviationbusinessnews.com/industry-news/neste-rows-back-on-climate-commitments/

• SAF Producer Neste Walks Back 2035 Zero-Emission Pledge
https://www.flyingmag.com/saf-neste-walks-back-2035-zero-emissions/

• SAF Producer Neste Walks Back Some Climate Goals
https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/aerospace/2025-12-15/saf-producer-walks-back-some-climate-goals

• World’s Top SAF Producer Revises Its Own Climate Goals
https://www.autoevolution.com/news/worlds-top-saf-producer-revises-its-own-climate-goals-263408.html

• Neste supplies sustainable aviation fuel to Cathay Group scaling up the use of SAF across three major aviation regions
https://www.neste.com/news/neste-supplies-sustainable-aviation-fuel-to-cathay-group-scaling-up-the-use-of-saf-across-three-major-aviation-regions

• Asia-Pacific study reveals pessimistic outlook for SAF uptake by 2030 as Singapore details levy
https://www.greenairnews.com/?p=8273

• Sustainable aviation fuel take-up in UK unlikely to hit 2025 target, data suggests
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/dec/26/sustainable-aviation-fuel-mandate-uk-government-data-2025

eSAF

• EU’s early movers coalition for clean aviation fuels takes off with eight member countries
https://carbon-pulse.com/464748/

• Major Airline Group Secures Largest Synthetic Fuel Deal to Scale e-SAF
https://news.sustainability-directory.com/industry/major-airline-group-secures-largest-synthetic-fuel-deal-to-scale-e-saf/

SAF MANDATES

• European Green Deal: reducing emissions from the aviation sector
https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/media/video/I-247037

• New climate targets and their impact on aviation, hotels, and cruises
https://money-tourism.gr/en/eu-new-climate-targets-and-their-impact-on-aviation-hotels-and-cruises/

• Supply shortage means airlines have no chance of meeting a 10% SAF by 2030 target, says IATA chief
https://www.greenairnews.com/?p=8262

• Boeing seeks FAA emissions waiver to sell 35 additional 777F freighters
https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/boeing-seeks-faa-emissions-waiver-sell-35-additional-777f-freighters-2025-12-19/

• Boeing seeks FAA exemption to keep 777 freighter production alive amid global cargo aircraft shortage
https://aerospaceglobalnews.com/news/boeing-faa-777f-production-emissions/

AUSTRALIAN SAF

• Cleaner Fuels Program: Powering low carbon liquid fuel production in Australia
https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/have-your-say/cleaner-fuels-program-powering-low-carbon-liquid-fuel-production-australia

• Jet Zero wins environmental approval for SAF project
https://www.argusmedia.com/en/news-and-insights/latest-market-news/2769034-jet-zero-wins-environmental-approval-for-saf-project

… delusional scenarios

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.

• Voluntary carbon markets: how they work, how they’re priced and who’s involved
https://www.spglobal.com/commodity-insights/en/news-research/blog/energy-transition/120325-how-does-the-voluntary-carbon-market-work

• ICAO releases first-ever growth factor for airlines’ CORSIA offsetting requirements
https://www.greenairnews.com/?p=8325

• ICAO lowers key CORSIA demand metric, signals over 55 mln credit potential for 2024 emissions
https://carbon-pulse.com/467632/

• International Civil Aviation Day: ICAO is advocating for safe and sustainable air transport for all
https://www.icao.int/news/international-civil-aviation-day-icao-advocating-safe-and-sustainable-air-transport-all

CARBON CAPTURE & DRAWDOWN

• Cost analysis of greenhouse gas removals for aviation
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cost-analysis-of-greenhouse-gas-removals-for-aviation

… aviation growth

• Air traffic projected to reach 12.4bn passengers by 2050
https://www.dawn.com/news/1959874/air-traffic-projected-to-reach-124bn-passengers-by-2050

• The economics of air transport in Europe. Part one: Air transport and growth
https://neweconomics.org/2025/11/the-economics-of-air-transport-in-europe

TOURISM

• Who really pays for your cheap flight?
https://www.resilience.org/stories/2025-12-08/who-really-pays-for-your-cheap-flight/

• The path of least emissions: how to take a sustainable holiday this summer
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/dec/13/how-to-take-a-sustainable-holiday-vacation-tourism-emissions-travel

Reducing emissions

… via alternative fuels

HYDROGEN

• Hydrogen in aviation offers potential for growth and deeper emissions reductions, new study shows
https://www.rolls-royce.com/media/press-releases/2025/09-12-2025-hydrogen-in-aviation-offers-potential-growth-and-deeper-emissions-reductions-study-shows.aspx

• JCB’s hydrogen engine
https://www.facebook.com/aircraftengineerings/photos/hydrogen-could-power-the-next-generation-of-jet-engineswithout-producing-co₂-emi/1322003069968827/

ELECTRIC BATTERIES

• Why Delta Wants Electric Ground Operations
https://evmagazine.com/news/aviation-why-delta-wants-electric-ground-operations

… marginally

FLIGHT PATHS

• Airbus is testing a bird-inspired flight formation to save fuel
https://en.as.com/latest_news/airbus-is-testing-a-bird-inspired-flight-formation-to-save-fuel-f202512-n/

FUEL EFFICIENCY

• Introducing the comparative weighting evaluation based on the best criteria method: a multi-fuzzy framework for aviation fuel efficiency
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-32988-7