Qantas touts jobs in plea for domestic sustainable fuel industry

Qantas Airways Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce said an Australian sustainable aviation fuel industry could support 15,000 jobs as he again made the case for government support for aviation’s only immediate path to decarbonization.

Incentives are key to kickstart domestic production of sustainable aviation fuel, Joyce said at a conference in Sydney on Thursday. Manufacturers need to see that making SAF, as it’s called, is a viable enterprise, he said. 

“Policy settings are really, really important,” he said. “They’re there in California, they’re there in Europe. They’re producing it.”

Airlines are running out of time to scale up production of SAF, aviation’s best shot at reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. SAF currently accounts for less than 0.1% of global jet fuel use, partly because there’s not enough of it and it can be several times more expensive than normal fuel.

Read more: Global Aviation’s Best Shot at Going Green Relies on Scarce Fuel

Battery-powered aircraft don’t have sufficient range, while hydrogen-powered planes are years away and present fuel-distribution challenges, Joyce said. Australia’s vast land mass and feed stock could be put to use producing SAF, which can cut emissions by 80%, he added.

A home-grown sustainable fuel industry would also offer energy security for military and commercial aircraft, he said. Qantas is having “really good discussions” with the new Labor government led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Joyce said.

Qantas and Airbus SE in June said they plan to invest as much as $200 million to accelerate the adoption of SAF in Australia.