We continue our discussion to do with Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs). Previous posts in this series are,
Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs) are a mix of biofuels and conventional kerosene/Jet A. If the airline industry stops using Jet A altogether, then enormous quantities of land would be needed to grow the necessary crops.
The amount of land needed depends on many, many factors, such as the crops grown, the weather and the quality of the soil being used. A first approximation as to how much land is needed is provided here. This calculation is very much a first swipe, but it provides a starting point for discussion as to the feasibility of SAFs.
The civil aviation industry uses about 86 billion gallons (318 billion liters) of fuel per annum.
It takes about 0.5 million acres of land (0.2 million hectares) to grow the crops necessary for 1 billion gallons of fuel.
Therefore, about 43 million acres would be needed. This is roughly the size of the States of Oklahoma or Missouri, or half the size of Germany.
Even though these calculations are very, very approximate, they do give some guidance as to how much land is needed if the aviation industry is to reach Net Zero emissions using SAFs.
