Myth: You can’t power aircraft with renewable energy

You cannot power commercial aircraft with renewable energy. They need oil-based aviation fuel. 

Fact:

Aviation is actually one of the easiest industries to decarbonise. All that is needed is to replace traditional fuel sources with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). SAF can be made from feedstock, vegetable oil, used cooking oil, algae or even household waste. It is carbon neutral, as it draws in CO₂ when it’s produced (i.e. grown), then expels it when it’s burned. Using this fuel source can cut CO₂ emissions by as much as 80 percent when compared with conventional sources.

The beauty of using SAF is that it doesn’t require any modification to either planes or airport infrastructure. The problem, however, is that SAF is expensive. To use it would raise the cost of air travel by about 140 percent – a not insignificant amount. Of course, over time costs will fall dramatically, once economies of scale are achieved, but that will not be till the middle of the next decade.