Sustainable aviation is a hot topic at the giant Farnborough International Airshow in the United Kingdom this week, and the largest delegation of Washington business and government leaders to ever attend are there to capitalize on the state’s low-carbon efforts.
Air travel is back to pre-pandemic levels and demand is expected to keep growing, said Washington Lt. Gov. Denny Heck, speaking to GeekWire from Farnborough.
When you combine that growth with the aerospace sector’s commitment to cut its carbon emissions, Heck said, “that spells opportunity — especially for a state that has a history of innovation, and has the largest aerospace sector of any state in the country.”
Washington is hosting a booth at the global summit to highlight its efforts, and Heck said companies from the state have held more than 100 meetings with fellow attendees and are making business deals. Some 68 representatives from the state are at the airshow.
Heck met with leaders from Firefly, a UK business making sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) out of sewage waste, and said the startup is potentially interested in building a manufacturing facility in Washington. State lawmakers this year approved tax credits of $1 to $2 per gallon for SAF to entice fuel producers.
Boeing and the investment company Clear Sky announced a partnership this week with Firefly to test the startup’s product, helping it along the path to become an allowed aerospace fuel.
There’s a massive need for sustainable jet fuels, but they come at a higher cost than fossil fuels. SAF companies are producing millions of gallons each year, but commercial airlines worldwide consumed 90 billion gallons of jet fuel last year, according to Bloomberg.
“We’ve got a ways to go before we get to commercial levels of production of SAF, and there’s a lot of effort that’s going to be needed in order for us to get there,” Heck said. “But we are on the path. That’s what’s important.”
Companies, research organizations and government agencies in Washington are working on multiple green aviation technologies that include:
- SAF: Twelve and SkyNRG are building commercial-scale SAF production facilities in the state. Snohomish County and Washington State University are working to establish the Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) Research and Development Center north of Seattle.
- Electric and hydrogen powered aircraft: ZeroAvia, magniX and Eviation are building low-carbon aircraft in Washington.
- Fuel efficient materials: Boeing has a $425 million, seven-year grant from NASA to develop and test fuel-efficient airplanes with ultra-thin wings.
ZeroAvia on Tuesday announced from Farnborough that it will receive roughly $13.5 million from the British government to continue its work developing its fuel cell technology. The startup is based in California and the U.K., and operates an R&D and manufacturing facility in Everett, Wash.