FINWIRES · TerminalLIVE
FINWIRES

IATA, ICAO Expand Cooperation on Sustainable Aviation Fuel Tracking

By

The International Air Transport Association and the International Civil Aviation Organization are set to deepen cooperation to improve tracking of sustainable aviation fuels, IATA said in a statement on Wednesday.

The move aims to strengthen transparency and support the aviation industry's goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, IATA said.

The agreement will explore how SAF registries and related data can support ICAO's long-term aspirational goal monitoring and reporting framework and the development of fuel accounting systems for international aviation.

ICAO Secretary General Juan Carlos Salazar said greater transparency and cooperation were essential to achieving the agency's net-zero emissions goal for international aviation by 2050.

He said enhanced monitoring of SAF production, distribution and use would strengthen global fuel accounting systems and help ensure climate investments are recognized consistently under ICAO frameworks.

The industry's decarbonization push comes against a backdrop of turmoil in fuel markets.

IATA's head of fuel, Daniel Chereau, said on Wednesday that airlines have been hit hard by soaring jet fuel margins and supply disruptions stemming from the conflict in the Middle East, with some carriers unable to hedge their exposure, Reuters reported.

"Some airlines with more elaborate hedging strategies get a bit of a cushion," he reportedly told the S&P Global Energy Middle East Petroleum and Gas Conference.

Soaring jet fuel refining margins, or crack spreads, added to pressure on the industry. In northwest Europe, jet fuel crack spreads surged to a record above $121 a barrel in March from about $30 before the outbreak of the Iran war in late February, he reportedly said, citing LSEG data.

The Middle East supplies much of the world's jet fuel, but exports have been disrupted by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on energy infrastructure.

Chereau also reportedly said signs of demand destruction were emerging in aviation, driven largely by flight cancellations and fuel shortages at some airports rather than fuel prices themselves.

He warned such disruptions could become more frequent if the conflict persists, with prolonged instability potentially weighing on passenger demand.

Related Articles

Commodities

Fidra Energy Acquires Over 1 GW Enderby Battery Project, Expands UK Pipeline Above 4 GW

Fidra Energy is expanding its UK battery storage portfolio through the acquisition of Innova's Enderby project, a deal that increases its development pipeline to over 4 gigawatts, Innova said Wednesday.Blaby District Council approved the Leicestershire-based project in May 2025, and it later qualified to apply for the UK's first long-duration energy storage cap-and-floor scheme.Regulators are expected to decide on the application in summer 2026, with the investment decision targeted for 2027 and commercial operations expected to begin in 2029.With an expected capacity of up to 1,025 megawatts, or 1.025 GW, Enderby ranks among the UK's largest planned battery storage facilities, Innova added.The purchase marks another step in Fidra Energy's UK growth plans and adds to a portfolio supported by EIG and the National Wealth Fund.Alongside the acquisition, Fidra is building its 1.4 GW/3.1 gigawatt-hours Thorpe Marsh project in Yorkshire and plans to decide in June 2026 whether to proceed with the 500 MW/1.1 GWh West Burton project in Nottinghamshire.Both projects are scheduled to come online by 2028, while expanding battery storage capacity will help the UK integrate more renewable power and support the government's target of 22 GW to 27 GW of operational short-duration battery storage by 2030."The acquisition of the Enderby battery storage project marks another major milestone in the expansion of our UK portfolio," Morris Van Looy, chief growth and strategy officer of Fidra Energy, said, adding that the deal supports the UK's Clean Power 2030 goals and will benefit from Innova's experience working with local stakeholders and communities.

Commodities

US Clean Power Capacity Reaches 370 GW as Solar, Storage Growth Continues, ACP Says

US clean power capacity reached 370 GW in the first quarter of 2026 after developers added 6.4 GW of new generation, enough capacity to supply nearly 80 million homes, American Clean Power said in the quarterly market report on Wednesday.Solar and battery storage continued to drive industry growth, while federal permitting delays and regulatory challenges slowed the development of new wind projects, according to the report.Compared with the same period last year, the clean power development pipeline expanded 6%, supported by a 13% increase in solar projects and an 8% rise in battery storage projects, American Clean Power said.Federal approval delays left land-based wind development largely unchanged, while the offshore wind pipeline contracted 35% as developers continued to face permitting hurdles and policy uncertainty, the report said.Utility-scale solar developers brought more than 3.6 GW of new capacity online during the quarter, lifting total operating solar capacity to 161.1 GW, American Clean Power said.Compared with the first quarter of 2025, when developers energized 7,695 MW, clean power installations fell 17%, while activity dropped 66% from the fourth quarter of 2025, the report said.More than 6.4 GW of clean power projects scheduled to begin operating during the quarter failed to meet their target timelines, highlighting persistent development delays, American Clean Power said.The delayed-project backlog grew to 53 GW as developers continued to face permitting bottlenecks, crowded grid connection queues, and fluctuating equipment costs, according to the report.With more than 96.4 GW of operating clean power capacity, Texas remained the country's largest clean energy market and accounted for 26% of online capacity nationwide.Texas is nearing the 100 GW mark and already operates more clean power capacity than the next four largest states combined, the report said.

Commodities

US Biofuels Update: Fund-Selling Continues to Sink Soybean Futures

Biofuels feedstock futures closed mixed on Wednesday, with soybean futures plummeting toward multi-month lows mid-week as traders show little concern about supplies, with mostly good weather to begin the 2026 growing season in the US.The Chicago Board of Trade July soybean futures contract closed 0.971% lower at $11.54 per bushel, while the CBOT July soybean oil futures contract settled 0.38% higher at 78.71 cents per pound.The Nymex July ethanol futures contract settled 1.25% lower on Tuesday at $1.97 per gallon.Rhett Montgomery, a DTN analyst, said the soybean market continues to retreat after breaking below technical support at the 100-day moving average of about $11.67 per bushel on Tuesday, the first close below the level for July futures since Feb. 3."Sluggish demand recently on the export market and a good start to the 2026 growing season has been enough incentive for traders to sell, even with record strong crush demand amid record high premiums," Montgomery said.The analyst added that soybean oil rose on energy influence.Meanwhile, US weekly ethanol production rose for the week ending May 29, according to the US Energy Information Administration report on Wednesday.For the week ending May 29, US ethanol production averaged 1.11 million barrels per day, above last week's 1.09 mmb/d and unchanged from last year's 1.11 mmb/d. Domestic ethanol inventories ended the week at 24.6 million barrels, below 25 mmbbls a week ago and 24.4 mmbbls a year ago.