JetBlue Technology Ventures (JTV) recently had the opportunity to host Captain Paulina Morales for a six-week fellowship as part of a new Air Force Ventures program funded by the United States Air Force and organized by Shift. The program immerses future Air Force leaders in the Bay Area venture capital and startup ecosystem to bring back learnings and best practices that help drive forward innovation within the military.
Below is the executive summary of Paulina’s research report for the program, focused on innovation and investment opportunities to advance sustainable aviation. Even as the industry faces serious challenges from COVID-19, JetBlue Airways’ long-term strategy and commitment to sustainability stands.
As global temperatures continue to rise, big corporations have a leading role to play to spearhead a healthier environment. Airlines in particular have unique and powerful opportunities to transform their business for the better. The purpose of this research project and report was to help JetBlue Technology Ventures understand new technologies that can advance the sustainability efforts of JetBlue Airways and uncover relevant learnings for the Air Force.
JetBlue has four key focus areas as it looks to a new climate reality — (1) fuel usage rightsizing and efficiencies; (2) carbon offsetting; (3) sustainable aviation fuel; and (4) electrification of aviation equipment. The airline’s venture capital subsidiary, JetBlue Technology Ventures, is also layering in sustainable technologies to its investment focus to support the airline’s overarching sustainability goals.
The full breadth of the report analyzed three of the four JetBlue focus areas in detail and addressed the future outlook of the industry, including opportunities for technologies and startups to disrupt the field. Here is a brief overview:
- Carbon Offsetting. Key facets of carbon offsetting, besides the offsetting platforms themselves, are the measurement and tracking tools. How are the offset effects tracked and measured and is it effective? With very lofty and impactful carbon-neutral goals, there needs to be accurate data collection to analyze for decision-making and tracking.
- Sustainable Aviation Fuel. There are many simultaneous efforts to develop an affordable and compliant sustainable aviation fuel however, sustainable aviation fuel is still much more expensive than conventional jet fuel. Innovation, maturation, and efficiency are needed in the production and development of the fuel as well as the supply and logistics tail of the fuel process.
- Equipment Electrification. About 40 percent of all ground support equipment is currently electric and that share isn’t likely to increase much without a guarantee of better battery performance (or an increase in funding to purchase the equipment). The industry needs innovative ideas in battery creation, technology, and optimization as well as charging stations and fleet management and analytics.
To maintain growth and at the same time address its environmental impact, the aviation industry has committed to reducing net aviation carbon emissions to 50% below 2005 levels by 2050. Innovative startups and emerging technologies will play a crucial role in helping JetBlue — and all airlines — do its part in that pledge.
To learn more about JetBlue Technology Ventures, please visit our website and sign up for our newsletter.
