Domestic and foreign airlines operating in Japan will need an estimated 2.3 billion liters (613 million gal.) of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to achieve the goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, concludes a joint report by All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL).

While there has been government support for the development and production of SAF in Japan, domestic production has not yet been commercialized. This leaves airlines in Japan reliant on more costly imported SAF from existing supply chains, the report noted.

Domestic SAF is expected to become available by 2030, and both ANA and JAL have joined the World Economic Forumʼs Clean Skies for Tomorrow Coalition and co-signed its September “ambition statement” to accelerate the supply and use of SAF to reach 10% of the global jet fuel supply by 2030.

Once domestic SAF is available “it will be important to implement policies that increase self-sufficiency from an energy security policy perspective, instead of simply relying on imports from Europe, the United States and China,” the report says.

“If Japanʼs airports can achieve a stable supply of domestically produced SAF at internationally competitive prices, the international airports in Japan will become more competitive, which will lead to the establishment of a stable international aviation network based in Japan,” it says.