The Gulf states are working on expanding their transportation networks and logistics hubs. For instance, the UAE is seeking to strengthen its position as the global city at the center of many emerging markets,” according to Dubai’s $8.7 trillion economic development plan (named D33), which was unveiled earlier this month.
By 2032, the UAE, of which Dubai is a part, hopes to handle three times as many containers and have 2,000 ships and tankers flying the Emirati flag. The nation’s flag-bearer airlines, Emirates and Etihad Airways have begun reintroducing their fleet of the largest passenger aircraft in the world, the Airbus A380.
Read more: DP World, Saudi Ports Authority to establish Jeddah Logistics Park
Other contenders include neighboring nations. In an effort to establish Riyadh as a major logistical hub, Saudi Arabia presented its plans for a gigantic aviation hub there in November 2022. The hub will have six parallel runways and be able to accommodate up to 120 million passengers annually by 2030. Oman also aspires to become a key entryway to Gulf markets by taking advantage of its location outside the Strait of Hormuz.
Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)
Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is an immediate solution for significantly reducing the CO2 emissions of air transportation. It can be used as a drop-in fuel without modifying existing storage and refueling infrastructure, aircraft, or engines. Gradual incorporation worldwide should help significantly lower the CO2 emissions of air transportation since, on average, bio-jet fuel produces 80% fewer CO2 emissions over its lifecycle when produced from waste or residue.
At first look, the Gulf nations’ thirst for the carbon-intensive logistics and transportation sectors conflicts with their stated desire to take part in the international effort to combat climate change. In October 2021, the UAE promised to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by the year 2050. Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Kuwait soon followed suit.
Governments still have time to increase their presence in shipping and aviation before achieving net zero aims.
The use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), a biofuel made from sustainable feedstocks like cooking oil, solid, and forestry waste, will account for 65% of net zero by 2050, claims the International Air Transport Association (IATA), a global airline industry trade group. But there isn’t enough of a supply. In contrast to the 450 billion liters needed every year by the middle of the century, SAF output reached 300 million liters in 2022. Emirates conducted a demonstration flight using only SAF in one of its two engines in January 2023.
Lately, Abu Dhabi giants started exploring the possibility of producing SAF in the UAE. The feasibility study by Masdar, ADNOC, bp, Tadweer, and Etihad Airways could lead to the commercial production of SAF.
Saudi on the other hand claimed that the airport hub that will be built in Riyadh would be an “aerotropolis” that runs on renewable energy and has “sustainability at its core.”
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