US Aerospace Industry Calls on New Administration to Provide Immediate Support to Reach Climate Goals

(GreenAir Online) US aircraft and engine manufacturers have called on the new Biden administration to provide sustained government support to help achieve its climate goals. In an open letter to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, FAA Administrator Steve Dickson, Climate Envoy John Kerry and National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy, the US Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) said action should be taken in three key areas: measures to accelerate the production and use of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF); enhancement of public-private partnerships to accelerate development of next-gen aircraft and engine technology; and delivery of national airspace modernisation.

The letter says that while AIA members would be contributing to climate targets through more efficient aircraft technology, it calls for a “holistic approach” to tackling aircraft CO2 emissions through short-term tools such as SAF, operational improvements and market-based measures.

The AIA recommends the administration supports a blender’s tax credit that would incentivise greater SAF production. The blender’s tax credit is a policy option included in the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Act legislation introduced in November by California Democrat Congresswoman Julia Brownley.

Meanwhile, Boeing is seeking to intervene on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency, which is being sued by 12 US states, the District of Columbia and three NGOs over the agency’s recent decision to finalise aircraft GHG emissions standards.

SAF, says the AIA, offers the most effective way of reducing the environmental impact of flying in the short-term but is not being produced currently in sufficient quantities to be an economically viable option for airlines today. As well as a blender’s tax credit, it recommends government support for SAF be provided through increased R&D funding, the adoption of policies to encourage sustainable fuel production specifically for aviation and increased military procurement and use of SAF by the government to help grow the market.

During the final days of the Trump administration in late December, the EPA finalised emissions standards for airplanes used in commercial aviation and large business jets that align them with the ICAO standards. Without the rulemaking, said the EPA, US manufacturers would have been at a significant disadvantage and could be forced to seek CO2 emissions certification from another country in order to market and operate their airplanes internationally.

However, the ruling is being challenged in an appeals court in Washington by the attorneys general from 12 Democrat-led states, including California, Illinois, Pennsylvania and New York, plus the District of Columbia, who contend it would not result in actual reductions of greenhouse gas emissions and is therefore unlawful.

The Sustainable Aviation Fuel Act legislation introduced by Julia Brownley aims to incentivise SAF production and help the aviation sector reduce its carbon emissions. As well as creating a new blender’s tax credit for SAF, linked to carbon reductions, it would authorise $1 billion in federal funding for US projects that produce, transport, blend or store SAF and a further $175 million in research funding “to push the limits” of existing SAF technology. It would also require the EPA to establish an aviation-only Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) similar to California’s transportation-wide LCFS. READ MORE