Indian aviation’s clean fuel transition must hinge on treating mobility as one integrated system and allocating limited feedstocks more efficiently by prioritising biofuels such as ethanol for air transport as automobiles have more viable alternatives like electrification availble, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Under its Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) roadmap, India has set phased blending targets of 1% by 2027, 2% by 2028 and 5% by 2030 for international flights, aligning with the goal of UN civil aviation safety watchdog, International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), achieving net-zero carbon emissions from international aviation by 2050.

“India is well placed to meet its short-term demand (for SAF), but for long-term requirements there is a need for diversification as well as rationalisation of feedstock allocation for different sectors to avoid a situation where all ethanol is used up by road transport,” Head, Net Zero Research & Programme, Preeti Jain told The Hindu in an interview from Geneva.