Boeing is committing that its commercial airplanes are capable and certified to fly on 100% sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) by 2030. Boeing has previously conducted successful test flights replacing petroleum jet fuel with 100% sustainable fuels.

Today, sustainable aviation fuels are mixed directly with conventional jet fuel in up to a 50/50 blend—the maximum allowed under current fuel specifications. In order to meet aviation’s commitment for reducing carbon emissions by 50% from 2005 levels by 2050, airplanes need the capability to fly on 100% sustainable aviation fuels well before 2050, Boeing said.

According to the Air Transport Action Group, US Department of Energy and several other scientific studies, sustainable aviation fuels reduce CO₂ emissions by up to 80% over the fuel’s life cycle with the potential to reach 100% in the future.

Boeing’s commitment is to determine what changes are required for its current and future commercial airplanes to fly on 100% sustainable fuels, and to work with regulatory authorities and across the industry to raise the blending limit for expanded use.

With a long history of innovation in sustainable aviation fuels, certifying our family of airplanes to fly on 100% sustainable fuels significantly advances Boeing’s deep commitment to innovate and operate to make the world better. Sustainable aviation fuels are proven, used every day, and have the most immediate and greatest potential to reduce carbon emissions in the near and long term when we work together as an industry.

—Boeing Chief Sustainability Officer Chris Raymond

Boeing has partnered globally with airlines, industry, governments and research institutions to expand limited supplies of SAF and reduce the fuel’s cost. Boeing worked with airlines, engine manufacturers and others to conduct biofuel test flights starting in 2008 and gain approval for sustainable fuels in 2011.

In 2018, the Boeing ecoDemonstrator flight-test program made the world‘s first commercial airplane flight using 100% sustainable fuels with a 777 Freighter, in collaboration with FedEx Express.

Sustainable aviation fuels can be made from a wide variety of feedstocks, including non-edible plants, agricultural and forestry waste, non-recyclable household waste, industrial plant off-gassing and other sources. Sustainability of the fuels is assured through credible sustainability certifications through third-party organizations such as the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials.