The Future of Sustainable Aviation: A Strategic Briefing on Fully Synthesized SAFs

Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) represent the only technologically viable pathway for large-scale aviation decarbonization within the constraints of existing aircraft infrastructure. However, the long-term scalability of current bio-based SAF pathways is limited by feedstock availability and land-use constraints. Power-to-Liquid fuels are therefore likely to become the structural backbone of aviation decarbonization, while biomass-based SAF functions as a transitional bridge technology. As a result, the strategic challenge facing policymakers is not whether SAF should be adopted, but how rapidly the global energy system can scale the infrastructure required to produce these fuels.