We’re excited to share that our portfolio company Joby Aviation and our parent company JetBlue Airways have announced a new partnership in conjunction with Signature Aviation that ultimately will help JetBlue’s journey toward net-zero carbon emissions by 2040. Designed to grow the market for offset credits for flights powered by low-carbon electric and hydrogen propulsion technologies, this partnership is the first of its kind. We’re thrilled to be at the forefront of innovation as we explore this new avenue for a more sustainable industry.
We sat down with Sara Bodgan, director of sustainability and ESG at JetBlue, to explain this growing market.
How did this partnership come to life?
Sara: We were first introduced to Joby when JTV made its initial investment in 2017. Since that time, Joby has built an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft that will quietly transport a pilot and four passengers up to 150 miles while producing zero operating emissions. When it comes to sustainable propulsion, they know their stuff.
Why is it important to create a market for electric aviation credits?
Sara: We source a lot of carbon offsets today. In 2020, JetBlue became the first U.S. airline to achieve carbon neutrality for all of our domestic flights, achieved today through the purchase of high-quality carbon offsets. The offsets we’ve purchased to-date are primarily from supporting solar, wind, and forestry projects all across the globe. While these offsets help reduce emissions and have many positive benefits in the communities in which they operate, they are external to the aviation industry. This new partnership allows JetBlue to not only continue to fulfill our carbon neutrality commitment, but also evolve the type of offsets we purchase to support the development of electric and hydrogen aviation — critical technologies for meeting the U.S. aviation industry’s net-zero goals.
So what does this look like in practice?
Sara: While this application to electric aviation is new, the concept isn’t — it’s similar to buying Renewable Energy Credits, where businesses can help fund renewable power generation by purchasing the emissions-reduction credits generated when renewable energy is produced. It is also an extension of the recently established concept of corporate travelers purchasing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) certificates from airlines, allowing for growth of SAF and for corporate customers to claim scope 3 emissions reduction benefits. For our new partnership, we see credits being generated when emissions reductions are achieved through electric- or hydrogen-powered commercial flights, in comparison to flights powered by conventional jet fuel. Operators such as Joby will analyze aircraft energy usage, measure emissions based on the source of the power used by the aircraft, and generate credits equaling the emissions reduction achieved. The result incentivizes the rapid commercialization of clean propulsion systems. Over the coming months, we’ll work hand-in-hand with Joby and Signature to define the framework for the creation, validation, and eventual use of these new credits.
If you’d like to learn more about this initiative, check out the JetBlue media room for the announcement.
