In this episode, we talk to Lee Beck, Senior Director for Europe and the Middle East, and Thomas Walker, Transportation Technology Manager at Clean Air Task Force (CATF), who share insights into innovative solutions for decarbonising the aviation industry.

Beck and Walker discuss CATF's role as a global climate organisation focused on overlooked solutions for decarbonisation and provide a forward-looking perspective on the future of sustainable aviation. They highlight several key issues:

1. The potential of synthetic fuels to make up over 50% of aviation fuel by 2050, and the policy measures necessary to achieve this ambitious goal.
2. The limitations of biofuels in meeting long-term aviation demand, and the need to explore alternative fuel sources.
3. The promise and challenges of hydrogen-powered aircraft, particularly for regional flights, and the significant infrastructure changes required.
4. The potential of ammonia as an aviation fuel, its advantages over hydrogen, and the hurdles to its adoption.
5. The current limitations of electric aircraft due to battery energy density constraints, and their potential niche applications.
6. The importance of carbon capture and storage in producing synthetic fuels and decarbonising the aviation industry.
7. The need for an options-based approach to decarbonisation, maintaining multiple technological pathways to address the complex challenge of aviation emissions.

Throughout the conversation, Beck and Walker advocate for a diverse portfolio of solutions and strong international collaboration to address aviation's environmental impact, while expressing cautious optimism about the sector's ability to achieve significant emissions reductions in the coming decades.

If you LOVED this episode, you’ll also love the conversation we had with Andrew Chen, Principal for Aviation Decarbonisation at RMI, who shares the RMI’s multi-faceted approach to aviation decarbonisation. Check it out here. 

Learn more about the innovators who are navigating the industry’s challenges to make sustainable aviation a reality, in our new book ‘Sustainability in the Air’. Click here to learn more.

Feel free to reach out via email to podcast@simpliflying.com. For more content on sustainable aviation, visit our website green.simpliflying.com and join the movement. It’s about time.

Links & More:

About Us – Clean Air Task Force 

Decarbonizing Aviation: Enabling Technologies for a Net-Zero Future - CATF

Decarbonizing Aviation: Challenges and Opportunities for Emerging Fuels - CATF 

Could ammonia have a role in decarbonising aviation? - AEF 

Why RMI’s multi-pronged approach to decarbonising aviation includes SAF & contrails - SimpliFlying