Photo: The Canadian Press

The chief executive of Airbus Canada says the country possesses the key factors to place it at the cutting edge of sustainable jet fuel innovation — making it “bizarre” that Canada lags behind the United States and Europe. An Air Canada Airbus A220-300 airliner from Toronto arrives at Halifax Stanfield International Airport in Enfield, N.S. on Monday, June 28, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

The chief executive of Airbus Canada says the country possesses the key factors to place it at the cutting edge of sustainable jet fuel innovation — making it all the more “bizarre” that Canada lags behind the United States and Europe on this front.

Benoît Schultz, who heads the Canadian wing of the plane-making giant, says the country’s long history of resource development, renewable energy, agriculture and aircraft manufacturing leave it ideally placed to lead developments around sustainable aviation fuel.

However, Canada has yet to commercially produce a drop of the stuff — often derived from used cooking oils or organic waste — while the U.S. has embarked on an ambitious incentives program and the European Union has set a timeline for green fuel thresholds.

Deborah Flint, who heads the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, says the industry faces an “existential threat” if it does not work to decarbonize quickly, given the current cost of sustainable fuel and the rising need to deploy it amid stricter government rules and a heating planet.

Production rates for sustainable aviation fuel amount to roughly one per cent of global demand for jet fuel, which costs about one-fourth the price as its greener alternative.

The aviation industry, which has set a goal of net-zero emissions by 2050, is calling for more international co-ordination to establish standards and fund improvements, such as those targetted by the federal government’s $350-million pledge to support aerospace decarbonization earlier this year.