by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 2:35 PM ET, Wed May 14, 2025
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is urging the travel industry to increase production and use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and other more renewable forms of power in a new report entitled, “Scaling Up Sustainable Fuel.”
The report, created in partnership with global consultancy ICF, provides ways for how every business within the travel industry can address emissions and help hasten the shift towards more sustainable options, whether they be a collaborator, promoter, adopter or investor.
Currently, SAF comprises only 0.3 percent of global jet fuel use, with production at 1.25 billion liters. Yet to meet net-zero goals by 2050, production must increase to over 450 billion liters, with an estimated 6,500 new renewable fuel plants around the world.
There are challenges to scaling up SAF, though. Production costs are high due to limited infrastructure and competition.
The report encourages joining campaigns to foster greater awareness, funding production facilities as an investor, purchasing sustainable fuel certifications or supplying waste products for the production of SAF. For example, The Erawan Group provides its used hotel oil to be recycled into SAF in Asia.
"Sustainable fuel is the single biggest game-changer for Travel & Tourism, but right now, supply falls dangerously short of demand,” said Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO. “If we don’t act together, we risk rising costs, limited availability, and stalled climate progress.”
“Every hotel, tour operator, travel agency, cruise line and airline has a role to play,” she continued. “This framework gives them the blueprint. Sustainable fuel is not just an environmental necessity; it’s a business imperative and governments must incentivise the production of SAF, not just set targets for the sector.”
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