Speech

Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative

Remarks as prepared for delivery

Good morning, and thank you, Nancy [LoBue]. I think we’d all agree that we are at a time when we as a nation are taking a fundamental relook at energy; not just how we create it but how we use it. I think it’s fair to say that few sectors felt the impact more of the changing energy equation in the U.S. economy than we have in aviation.

And now, a little over a year later, oil prices aren’t dominating the front page. Today prices fluctuate today around $65 to $70 a barrel. Yet the energy challenge is no less real. Consider that nearly every economist or policy-maker will tell you the world is going through the worst global recession in the last 60 years. Yet oil prices are three times what they were near the beginning of this decade when growth was good.

Which brings us to why we’re here. Aviation has always been on the forefront of technology and economic change. And I’m not just talking about big business. As consumers, overnight delivery of just about anything is status quo. But take aviation out of the picture, and it just doesn’t happen.

The good news for us in this room is that aviation is once again spearheading part of a fundamental change in how we live, this time toward the use of low-carbon energy. The Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative is proof positive that we’re constantly looking for newer and better ways to get and use energy and help lead us nationally and globally toward sustainable transport.

When you compare today to the year 2000, U.S. commercial aviation is moving 12 percent more passengers and 22 percent more freight while burning less fuel, reducing our carbon output by a million tons over nine years. Aircraft fuel efficiency has improved 70 percent over the last 40 years. On a per passenger mile basis, Boeing’s new 787 will be much more fuel-efficient than the best of today’s compact car. In the past four years alone, U.S. airlines have improved their fuel efficiency 11 percent. Our forecast anticipates an additional 30 percent improvement by 2025.

Already, the FAA has implemented programs to reduce vertical separation between aircraft at high altitudes. It’s saving about 3 million tons of CO₂ per year. In short, any place and any way we can make a difference, we are.

For pilots, the Continuous Descent Approach program is a dream come true. It allows for a long, smooth minimum power descent into the airport area. It cuts noise, and it cuts fuel burn. Our most recent CDA analysis based on data from Los Angeles International Airport indicates CDAs are saving 2 million gallons, or 13 million pounds, of fuel a year. That’s about 17,620 metric tons of CO₂.

Required navigation performance is another procedure that’s turning heads. RNP gives pilots satellite technology to fly a more precise flight path into an airport. Again, less noise. Less fuel. Less pollution.

Today’s focus is on sustainable alternative fuels. You, the CAAFI stakeholders have made tremendous progress.

My congratulations to you for all the hard work that resulted in ASTM International approving a blend of synthetic jet fuel for commercial aircraft use. You’ll hear it referenced more later today and tomorrow as ASTM D7566. Jet fuel hasn’t changed much in the last few decades, but this is the first new specification that allows synthetic hydrocarbons from multiple sources to be used as jet fuel — a significant step beyond the use of synthetic fuel produced by Sasol in South Africa. All of this means that a broad range of fuel producers using a broad range of feedstocks can now supply jet fuel. As a pilot, it’s good to know that this can be used if it meets this specification. It wouldn’t surprise me to see investors start lining up for this one.

CAAFI also brought together airlines and fuel producers to clarify needs and requirements around the table. As I understand it, that meeting spurred negotiations and deal-making, which was just what we’d hoped. That did indeed get the ball rolling. As a result, renewable diesel will be used by some ground service equipment at LAX. Other airports are converting their ground vehicles to low emission fuels, with funding assistance from FAA’s Voluntary Airport Low Emission Program.

That’s the kind of movement that will keep alternative fuels on the front burner. I’m also especially pleased that CAAFI is working to share information and develop partnerships with groups like the USDA, the Department of Energy, the Air Force and ICAO.

As a nation, we need a sturdy base of customers for sustainable alternative fuels. And I think there’s strong agreement in this room that aviation is that base. I suppose in the near future, cars might not use liquid fuel. But aviation will need liquid fuel for the foreseeable future. Cars have a raft of options, like batteries, fuel cells. Having said all this, I know there is a design for a solar powered plane out there right now, but on a large scale, it’s a non-starter — no pun intended. But in the interim I see great promise here in this room.

It is a terrific sign for aviation and it’s especially good news for the United States of America — for our energy security, the environment and economic recovery — that you’ve recognized the energy challenge as an opportunity and are creating a solution. We at the FAA are committed to working in partnership with you to make this opportunity a reality. Thank you.