The UK risks being left behind in the race to develop a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) industry, the director of sustainability at Heathrow Airport has warned.
"There's a race for this new technology", said Matthew Gorman, who is also chair of Sustainable Aviation, speaking at the Sustainable Skies Summit in Farnborough in the UK.
"The US energy sector has been absolutely clear, they see SAF an emerging technology and they mean to corner the market," Gorman explained, warning that "unless the UK moves quickly to put policies in place, we won't attract investment".
However Gorman was broadly positive about the UK aviation sector's efforts to contribute towards attaining so-called net zero by 2050.
It is "a really exciting story," he said, referring to the prominence of SAF and hydrogen fuel in the UK's "net zero drive".
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Matthew Gorman, director of sustainability at Heathrow Airport, speaking at the Sustainable Skies World Summit 2023 in Farnborough (Photo: Simon Roughneen)[/caption]
But at the same time Gorman said the British government can do more. "UK airspace modernisation should be accelerated to complete by the end of the decade" he said, suggesting further that "different funding models should be considered to bring the date forward".
"We will decarbonise faster, and create more jobs and investment in the UK, with the right policies", he told the event, advocating for a price stability mechanism to help produce SAF "at scale" and for "a strategic plan" to make sure there is enough zero-carbon electricity and hydrogen "to decarbonise aviation".