Geologically Balanced Fuels: a net zero goal for Low-Carbon Aviation Fuels?

Sep 23, 2024

Geologically Balanced Fuels (GBFs) offer the aviation sector a flightpath to net zero. They complement existing strategies centred around efficiency improvements and technology switching, offset credits, and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) blending. A GBF is a conventional aviation fuel whose carbon dioxide emissions are compensated for by an equivalent quantity of carbon dioxide (CO2) being captured and permanently stored in geological formations. The portion of the fuel’s emissions which are geologically sequestered is the ‘stored fraction’ – this fraction increases gradually over time as the market matures, reaching 100% (i.e. net zero) in mid-century. The details of this definition, feasibility of the approach and potential impact of a GBF market remain underexplored, despite offering a potential alternative to reliance on synthetic or biological SAFs, or on nature-based offset credits, which currently dominate most airlines’ decarbonisation strategies. There is an urgent need to develop the policies, reporting standards, and first-mover collaborations to support airlines and fuel suppliers to achieve durable net zero.

This paper was written by Stuart Jenkins (ONZ), Rabab Mehnaz (IATA), Tom Kettlety (ONZ), Emily Cox (ONZ) and Myles Allen (ONZ).

Publication details
Theme(s)
Carbon offsetting
Type(s)
Comment
Author(s)
Allen, Myles Cox, Emily Jenkins, Stuart Kettlety, Tom
Year(s)
2024

Latest news

Young climate leaders funded by Oxford Net Zero and SSEE to attend COP29
Young climate leaders funded by Oxford Net Zero and SSEE to attend COP29

The inaugural cohort of Global Youth Climate Training (GYCT) Programme bursary recipients will arrive in Baku, Azerbaijan in the coming days, ready to participate in their individual streams of work at COP29.  The GYCT, a collaboration between ... Read more

Serviced emissions: Placing professional services at the heart of Net Zero
Serviced emissions: Placing professional services at the heart of Net Zero

This piece was originally published by the Smith of School of Enterprise and the Environment. Republished with permission.    As our world races against time to halve global emissions by 2030, a critical and overlooked catalyst is ... Read more

Call for participants: “Unlocking the power of youth to develop equity in net-zero governance”
Call for participants: “Unlocking the power of youth to develop equity in net-zero governance”

Oxford Net Zero's Engagement Team have an open call for youth aged 18-35 years old to participate in a new 8-month long research project to embed equity criteria into net-zero governance.  There is perhaps no single demographic that will be ... Read more

See more news and events