The Rise of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and Its Influence on Atmospheric Carbon Isotope Measurements

Mounting pressure on emissions strictly connected to aviation has led to the development of SAF or Sustainable Aviation Fuel, an efficient tool by which aircraft operations are expected to cut emissions of climate altering agents considerably. According to several estimates, CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions could be cut significantly, and the emission of sulfur compounds into the atmosphere could also be vastly reduced via SAF. Though this form of alternative fuel is still somehow challenged by costs, production availability and related concerns, it’s still expected to lead to considerable reductions in terms of aviation-related emissions over the course of forthcoming years. As of today, the attention is almost entirely focused on reduced emissions and how to make the implementation of SAF more efficient, but there’s a remarkable side effect of SAF’s replacement of conventional fossil fuels – namely, its characteristic carbon isotope fingerprint – which could be used to improve estimates and other models at least on local scales.