Delta switches to SAF in its Netzero pursuit

Delta Air Lines planes at Salt Lake City International Airport is planning to switch from petroleum-based jet fuel to “sustainable aviation fuel” made from plant materials.

This story is part of The Salt Lake Tribune’s ongoing commitment to identify solutions to Utah’s biggest challenges through the work of the Innovation Lab.

Delta Air Lines, which has pledged to have net-zero emissions by 2050, plans to fuel its jets with “sustainable aviation fuel” to reduce its carbon footprint.

The world’s third largest airline in passenger volume and Utah’s largest carrier, Delta this week announced new efforts to operate more sustainably. The plans include reducing plastics and converting ground equipment to electric power, but the most significant part of the push is committing to and investing in new fuels.

Sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, is biofuel produced from plant materials rather than fossil fuels. It still releases climate-harming carbon dioxide when it’s burned in jet engines, but that release is offset by the carbon dioxide that is captured when the plants are growing.

SAF is two to three times more expensive than regular jet fuel, so right now the airline is only using it at five airports where there are incentives offered to use it: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Paris, Amsterdam and London, according to Emily Pitchford, spokesperson for Delta.

Delta had earlier announced a partnership with DG Fuels to purchase 385 million gallons of SAF between 2027 and 2035.

Delta uses 3.9 billion gallons of jet fuel annually, so the DG Fuels commitment is a literal drop in the bucket.

As a result, the airline plans to slowly increase SAF use as the capacity to produce it grows. Delta’s SAF targets are 10% by 2030; 35% by 3035; and 95%+ by 2050.

In 2021, the Biden Administration included a tax credit to spur SAF production as part of the Build Back Better program, noting that 11% of non-military transportation emissions come from aviation.

United Airlines has also made a large commitment to SAF, and it also acknowledges that current production falls far short of what is needed. “United has, today, 40% of all of the announced fuel agreements for SAF globally, and last year we consumed less than 0.1% of our total fuel supply as SAF, so there’s just not enough,” United Airlines’ chief sustainability officer Lauren Riley told USA TODAY.

The main motivation for SAF is reducing the release of carbon dioxide, the principal contributor to human-caused climate change. But there could also be a benefit to the Wasatch Front’s air quality, depending on how the SAF is formulated, according to Glade Sowards, policy analyst for the Utah Division of Air Quality. About 3% of the Front’s emissions are attributable to Salt Lake City International Airport.

But the same study noted that SAF doesn’t reduce nitrogen oxide emissions and therefore it likely won’t reduce Utah’s summer ozone problems.

If SAF does come to be a substantial fuel source in Salt Lake City, it’s not clear how it will get there. Currently, the refineries near the airport produce jet fuel from crude oil and pipe it to the airport. Utah currently has no production of SAF, and has not proposal to build any.

Delta’s announcement this week also included a commitment to electrify all ground equipment at U.S. airports, which it said is “nearly 100% complete” at Salt Lake City International.