A lifelong aviation enthusiast who joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in 2007, Curt came to&nbsp;the publication&nbsp;from the broadcast industry where he was a national science and technology television reporter and producer. He writes on the FBO field, aviation finance, and sustainable aviation and occasionally contributes to&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;sister publication&nbsp;Business Jet Traveler. Curt was a member of the AINtv reporting staff that won the 2008 Aerospace Journalist of the Year award for Best Airshow Daily. That same year, he was a finalist for another AJOYA award. He earned an AJOYA for Best Business Aviation Submission in 2018 and was a finalist in that category in 2021. He received the National Air Transportation Association’s&nbsp; Aviation Journalist Award in 2012 and won a Pegasus Sapphire Business Aviation Award for outstanding journalism in 2021.
Before joining AIN, Curt worked with&nbsp;Consumer Reports’ television division, CRTV, and for several local television news staffs. An honors graduate of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, he earned a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from Boston University in 1995. Curt lives in New York State with his wife and two young sons.

Business Aviation Services Editor

Curt Epstein

A new report from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates that this year’s production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) will reach 2.4 million tonnes, an amount that still represents just 0.8% of aviation fuel use.
Presently, the vast majority of SAF produced comes from used cooking oils, fats, and greases via the HEFA process, but those feedstocks are limited. Next-generation SAFs use large amounts of renewable energy to convert green hydrogen, water, and CO2 into jet fuel using a power-to-liquid process.
IATA noted that recent mandates in the EU and UK call for e-SAF production of around 0.6 million tonnes by 2030. However, global production capacity currently operating and under construction stands at around 0.02 million tonnes, with only one production site in operation. The organization estimates that it would take approximately 20 commercial-scale refineries to achieve the mandated volume. However, no new final investment decisions for e-SAF facilities have been made over the past year.
“It looks to be another disappointing year for SAF production,” said IATA director general Willie Walsh.&nbsp;“The path to meeting 65% of our needs in 2050 is growing more difficult with each year of ineffectively sequenced government policies and oil companies’ manifest lack of interest.”
Walsh added that the current bottleneck in petroleum due to the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran, and the resulting price spikes, should add even more urgency to the development of renewables, including SAF. “But we have yet to see either the energy shock, the need to develop energy independence and jobs, or the urgency to mitigate climate change materialize in the incentives needed to create a viable SAF market.”

News about environmental issues relating to aircraft operations, including noise issues, emissisions, and regulations. See Fuel for biofuel.

IATA: SAF Production Volumes Still Disappointing

Global sustainable aviation fuel production is still less than 1% of jet fuel use

IATA’s director general expressed disappointment over the lack of progress in SAF production.

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

Charles Alcock

News about commercial airlines, including regulations, aircraft orders, safety, acquisitions, and mergers.

News about bills, laws, regulations and other governmental decisions affecting aviation and aerospace. Topics include FAA re-authorizations, taxes on fuel and aviation activities, environmental legislation, ICAO decisions, governmental mediation of labor conflicts and World Trade Organization disputes and decisions.

Open letter to European Commission calls for more support and tax reform

Electric Aviation Innovators Call for Bizjet Taxes

Hanneke Weitering

News and issues relating to international air transport and cargo carriers, national airlines and regional airlines, including aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

ACT-LTAG to guide state action plans

ICAO Launches Program To Speed Aviation Decarbonization

New developments at FBOs including regulations and noise issues; legal disputes; openings, acquisitions and mergers.

Awards will honor both chains and single locations

NATA To Partner on FBO Sustainability Awards at AIN Gala

News and developments about aviation fuel, including jet fuel, aviation gasoline, and biofuel.

News and issues relating to the aerospace industry that are related to the science, engineering and business of flight in space involving civil, industrial and military applications, and similar topics related to flight in the atmosphere of the Earth that are not covered more directly by other AINonline subject channels. In other words, both astronautical and aeronautical subjects, except for those aeronautical topics that are specifically covered elsewhere on this website.

Companies working with SAF and hydrogen propulsion see tipping point opportunity

Fuel Crisis Raises the Stakes in Chase for Alternatives

Kerry Lynch

Company maps out next five-year plan through 2030

Bombardier Meets Five-year Sustainability Targets

Amy Wilder

Novel approach could transform prepreg scraps into new aircraft components

Swiss OEM Pilatus Studies Composite Scrap Recycling

News and developments about airplanes, helicopters and unmanned air vehicles used in all varieties of operations, including airlines, military, business, commercial, general aviation and private.

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Airlines are improving operational efficiency but not cutting total carbon

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