Scientists have not been able to find a single clear alternative to jet fuel that would help the aviation industry achieve net zero.
Currently, the UK aviation sector consumes 12.3 million tonnes of jet fuel a year and produces 8 per cent of the country's greenhouse gas emissions. However, it is considered a hard-to-abate sector due to a lack of technologically mature alternatives to jet-fuelled engines.
Made from waste materials or by-products such as household waste, industrial gases or used cooking oil, SAFs have often been considered as the most efficient option, as they can achieve greenhouse gas emissions savings of more than 70 per cent compared to conventional fossil jet fuels.
Nonetheless, the authors of a report published by the Royal Society have found that replacing jet fuel with biomass, or SAF, would require the use of huge tracts of land - approximately 50 per cent of the available agricultural land in the UK.
Meanwhile, alternatives...