Aviation connects Australia’s cities, regions and remote communities, and provides a primary link to international markets. Because aircraft need high-energy liquid fuels for range, weight and refueling practicality, low carbon liquid fuels (LCLFs) are expected to play an important role in aviation alongside aircraft efficiency, operational improvements and emerging electric or hydrogen (H₂) aircraft for shorter routes.
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Aviation at a glance
How aviation is reducing emissions
Aviation decarbonisation involves a combination of measures rather than a single solution.
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Increased use of certified sustainable aviation fuel
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Improved flight planning and air traffic management
Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)
Most commercial aircraft use aviation turbine fuel, commonly supplied as Jet A-1. Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is the main low carbon liquid fuel alternative. Different feedstocks and technology routes can produce aviation-range hydrocarbons.
Made from renewable and non-conventional carbon sources
Feedstocks include fats and oils, sugars and starches, crop and forestry residues, and renewable hydrogen combined with captured carbon dioxide.
Blended with conventional jet fuel to become SAF
Neat SAF is a blending component. It is mixed with conventional jet fuel up to an approved maximum, commonly 50%, under the ASTM D7566 specification.
Used in existing aircraft and infrastructure
The blend is certified as Jet A-1, so it works in today’s aircraft, engines, storage and airport refuelling without modification.
Conventional jet fuel (CAF) and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) are made along parallel routes. Each runs through the same three rungs: a starting material (1), a production process (2) and a certified product (3). Blending then brings them together under the same fuel standard.
Mostly imported as refined products, or as crude oil for domestic processing.
Fossil-derivedMATERIAL
Fats & oils (canola, tallow, UCO) · sugars & starches · lignocellulosic residues · PtL e-fuels (renewable H₂ + CO₂), plus dedicated energy crops, organic wastes and aquatic biomass.
Crude oil is heated, separated by boiling point, and treated to meet jet fuel specifications.
Crude oil is heated in a distillation column and separated into fractions by boiling point. The kerosene fraction (boiling at roughly 150–275 °C) is drawn off as the basis for jet fuel.
The kerosene fraction is reacted with hydrogen over a catalyst to remove sulfur, nitrogen and other impurities, improving stability and cleanliness so the fuel meets jet specifications.
PROCESS
Approved pathways under ASTM D7566:
Fats, oils and greases – such as canola oil, tallow and used cooking oil – are reacted with hydrogen to remove oxygen, then cracked and isomerised into jet-range hydrocarbons. The most widely used pathway today. Blend limit: 50%.
Biomass, residues or wastes are gasified into synthesis gas (CO + Hâ‚‚), which is catalytically assembled into hydrocarbons and upgraded to jet range. Blend limit: 50%.
Ethanol or isobutanol – typically fermented from sugars or starches – is dehydrated, oligomerised and hydrogenated into jet-range hydrocarbons. Blend limit: 50%.
Sugars are fermented into farnesene, a branched hydrocarbon, then hydroprocessed to jet range. Blend limit: 10%.
Kerosene-type aviation turbine fuel (Jet A-1).
Certified: ASTM D1655 / Def-Stan 91-091Synthesised hydrocarbons – not yet ready for use.
Certified: ASTM D7566Mostly imported as refined products, or as crude oil for domestic processing.
Fossil-derivedFats & oils (canola, tallow, UCO) · sugars & starches · lignocellulosic residues · PtL e-fuels (renewable H₂ + CO₂), plus dedicated energy crops, organic wastes and aquatic biomass.
Crude oil is heated, separated by boiling point, and treated to meet jet fuel specifications.
Crude oil is heated in a distillation column and separated into fractions by boiling point. The kerosene fraction (boiling at roughly 150–275 °C) is drawn off as the basis for jet fuel.
The kerosene fraction is reacted with hydrogen over a catalyst to remove sulfur, nitrogen and other impurities, improving stability and cleanliness so the fuel meets jet specifications.
Approved pathways under ASTM D7566:
Fats, oils and greases – such as canola oil, tallow and used cooking oil – are reacted with hydrogen to remove oxygen, then cracked and isomerised into jet-range hydrocarbons. The most widely used pathway today. Blend limit: 50%.
Biomass, residues or wastes are gasified into synthesis gas (CO + Hâ‚‚), which is catalytically assembled into hydrocarbons and upgraded to jet range. Blend limit: 50%.
Ethanol or isobutanol – typically fermented from sugars or starches – is dehydrated, oligomerised and hydrogenated into jet-range hydrocarbons. Blend limit: 50%.
Sugars are fermented into farnesene, a branched hydrocarbon, then hydroprocessed to jet range. Blend limit: 10%.
Kerosene-type aviation turbine fuel (Jet A-1).
Certified: ASTM D1655 / Def-Stan 91-091Synthesised hydrocarbons – not yet ready for use.
Certified: ASTM D7566Life-cycle emissions benefit
The emissions benefit of SAF is assessed across the full fuel life cycle, including feedstock production or collection, fuel conversion, transport and use.
Depending on the feedstock, pathway and certification method, SAF can reduce life-cycle carbon dioxide emissions by up to around 80% compared with conventional jet fuel .
Sustainable aviation fuel today
SAF is being produced and used commercially around the world, but supply remains small relative to total jet fuel demand . Activity is currently accelerating in Australia and overseas due to government incentives, growing project pipelines, mandates and demand signals.
Policy, regulation and technical guidance
The bodies below shape aviation fuel policy, regulation, standards and technical guidance. They are grouped by what kind of role they play.
Fuel quality and technical standards
These decide whether a fuel is approved for use in aircraft and fit to handle and refuel at the airport.
Australia
Fuel quality standards for fuels sold in Australia
Sets what a fuel must meet to be legally sold in Australia, under the Fuel Quality Standards Act 2000 and its determinations.
Australia
Aviation fuel handling and refuelling rules for Australian operators
CASA’s regulatory references for fuel requirements, fuel procedures and fuelling safety under the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations.
International
Def Stan 91-091 jet fuel specification
The United Kingdom defence specification that jet fuel supplied in Australia is usually imported and procured against (Issue 18).
International
ASTM D1655 aviation turbine fuel specification
The core specification for conventional jet fuel.
International
ASTM D7566 jet fuel containing synthesised hydrocarbons
The specification for jet fuel containing approved synthetic blending components, including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) blends.
Certification criteria
SAF only counts as low carbon under schemes like CORSIA, ReFuelEU or the UK mandate if it is certified. These schemes decide what counts and how the claim is proven.
Australia
Guarantee of Origin
Australia’s voluntary scheme that tracks and certifies the emissions intensity of products, starting with hydrogen. Launched November 2025 and set to expand to low carbon liquid fuels.
International
Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) eligible fuels
The international framework that defines which fuels are eligible, the sustainability criteria they must meet, and how their life cycle emissions are assessed.
Mandates and targets
The rules that create demand. Australia has no sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) mandate yet; these are the international frameworks and overseas mandates shaping global demand and deciding which fuels qualify.
International
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) global framework for cleaner aviation fuels
Adopted in 2023, it sets a collective aspirational vision to cut international aviation carbon dioxide (COâ‚‚) emissions by 5% by 2030 through cleaner energy, supporting ICAO’s net-zero goal for 2050.
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