RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The airline industry has set bold goals to reduce carbon emissions in the coming decades. Companies consider it essential to adopt sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) widely to achieve this goal. In this context, the American company Boeing believes that Brazil can be a major player in producing this input, not only to supply the domestic market but also to meet export orders.
According to Boeing’s vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean and general director of the company in Brazil, Landon Loomis, the country has an “obvious” leadership role in this scenario. “Brazil developed its own fuel in the 1970s with the oil crisis. It is the second-largest biofuel producer globally, larger than the next eight combined. That’s what we need in the race for SAF,” the executive said.
He says that although the company is working on electric and hydrogen aircraft projects, half of the emissions from flights worldwide come from long-haul routes, which are not candidates for this type of technology. “This is not just Boeing’s position; it’s the industry’s. How do you get the carbon out of the system? With SAF, but today less than 2% of flights in the world are made with the fuel, the problem is scale.”
Loomis reports that Boeing has been working with SAF for about ten years in Brazil, sponsoring projects by universities and research-related entities. “The country could produce enough supply for all its domestic demand and still export.”
According to the executive, the company has committed to certifying airplanes to operate with 100% SAF by 2030, although he admits that there won’t be enough supply in the world for all planes to run on the fuel. In this regard, Boeing has been working with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA, the US aviation agency) to ensure that all aircraft can run entirely on sustainable fuels by the end of the decade.
“There is a regulatory limit of 50% around the world. We are working to extend that rate to 100%.”
OIL PRICE HIKE FORCES FLEET RENEWAL
While airlines try to recover margins and restore the occupancy rate, aircraft manufacturers seek to stimulate fleet renewal against rising oil prices after the war in Ukraine.
“With the challenge of rising fuel prices, airlines need more efficient products,” says Boeing vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean and general manager of the company in Brazil, Landon Loomis.
On the other hand, a side effect of the war – which adds to the impacts of the pandemic – is the substantial increase in the prices of inputs. The executive does not comment on negotiations with customers and suppliers but states that the company is in constant contact with companies in the supply chain to manage this situation. He further says that this is not the first time the company has dealt with a Russia-related crisis.
“Titanium is a critical component for us, but since the last military operation in Ukraine (Crimea) in mid-2014, we have started no longer relying on the input from Russia,” he said.
In his assessment, the projections of an upturn in the industry will hold true. “Fuel prices are an important part of our customers’ costs, it’s a challenge they have to deal with, but we always operate in a challenging scenario.” He recalls that before the pandemic, the industry carried 4.5 billion passengers. “By 2050, we will have 10 billion passengers globally; we will continue to grow.”
With information from Estadão