Amid escalating global warming challenges, the aviation industry must adopt
low-carbon and green practices. China, aiming to meet its dual carbon goals,
urgently requires enhanced research and development in sustainable aviation
fuels (SAF), including their sustainability certification. However, China’s
regulatory framework and limited research foundation in biofuels exacerbate this
endeavor. This article summarizes the development status of SAF sustainability
certification internationally and within China, encompassing the indicator
framework, full life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) calculation methodologies, and
emission reduction thresholds. It also highlights issues encountered in the
application of current international sustainability certification systems in
China, such as high certification costs and inadequate data security.
Advancement in domestic sustainability certification in China faces obstacles
related to the incomplete foundational database, despite possessing life cycle
assessment (LCA) calculation capabilities. To address these challenges, it is
imperative to expedite the development of SAF certification systems, research in
big data tracking systems, and establish targeted international mutual
recognition data tracking platforms. Furthermore, enhancing GHG reduction
thresholds in SAF sustainability certification is crucial. These steps will
expedite SAF adoption in China, significantly contributing to global
decarbonization efforts.
