Editorial comment
President Trump promised to make heads spin following his inauguration, and he has certainly been true to his word. Since returning to the White House, Trump has been working at full speed, signing a flurry of executive orders (and ruffling a few feathers both at home and abroad).
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Across the pond, the UK government has also been attempting to stamp its authority, most recently by taking aim at NIMBYs, who it accuses of standing in the way of economic growth. The Labour government has put the economy at the heart of its plan to ‘rebuild Britain’, and is now vowing to go “further and faster” to put its plans into action. As part of this, it has promised to end a “challenge culture” by blocking campaigners from making repeated legal challenges to planning decisions for major infrastructure projects.
Arguably the biggest infrastructure project of all – the building of a third runway at London’s Heathrow Airport – has just received government backing. Having grown up just a few miles from Heathrow, I can say with confidence that opposition to the third runway from the local community in west London will be strong. London’s Mayor, Sir Sadiq Khan, has also voiced his opposition to the plans, questioning whether a new runway could be built that abides with carbon targets and addresses concerns around noise and air pollution. However, the UK government contends that the new runway could have environmental benefits, such as fewer planes circling London before landing. Key to its argument is that there is also huge investment in sustainable aviation, which it says goes hand-in-hand with economic growth. The world’s first transatlantic flight using 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) took off from Heathrow airport in November 2023, and Heathrow recently announced an increase in its SAF incentive scheme, with £86 million available to encourage airlines to switch to SAF. In 2025, the scheme aims to reduce lifecycle carbon emissions from flights by over 500 000 t.
It’s certainly true that SAF has a key role to play in meeting the aviation industry’s decarbonisation ambitions, alongside other promising technologies including hydrogen and electrification. We regularly publish interesting technical articles exploring the potential of SAF, and examining its various production pathways, in Hydrocarbon Engineering. And you can also find several articles exploring the economics of SAF in our EnviroTech supplement, which is dedicated to decarbonisation initiatives within the downstream sector (scan the QR code on page 43 to download your free copy).
I’d also like to draw your attention to a special Insight Seminar that Hydrocarbon Engineering will be hosting on 19 March, exploring the economics of e-fuels. As the marine, automotive and aviation industries aim to reduce their carbon footprint, understanding e-fuel cost structure is essential for all stakeholders. Please join us for a roundtable discussion with Johnson Matthey and a panel of industry experts from A.P. Moller - Maersk, Honeywell, HIF Global and the Methanol Institute as we look to provide a clear analysis of the factors influencing e-fuel pricing, the economic challenges, and strategies for cost reduction.
