To drive forward a new chapter for aviation, Delta is joining the Aviation Climate Taskforce (ACT) – a new nonprofit organization founded to tackle the challenge of eliminating carbon dioxide emissions in aviation, with the goal to accelerate breakthroughs in emerging decarbonization technologies by 10 years or more.

“We’re still too far from real, scalable solutions to clean air travel. We need SAF to be just as accessible as oil and new engine technologies to come to market exponentially faster if we are going to meet industry goals,” said Amelia DeLuca, Delta’s Managing Director of Sustainability. “These coalitions help us more effectively impact our carbon footprint by pooling together resources and funding to define the next chapter of sustainable aviation.” 

ACT brings together global airline leaders in partnership with Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to drive technological innovation and accelerate the research and development lifecycle of emerging technologies. It will take a portfolio approach, with the majority of its focus on critical medium-term solutions, such as synthetic fuel, and additional focus on more near-term solutions, such as emerging bio-based Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) pathways, and long-term solutions, such as hydrogen technologies. ACT will aim to support the advancement of these technologies through two key pillars: an Innovation Network and a Collaboration Forum.

Through the Innovation Network, ACT will accelerate breakthroughs in emerging technologies. It will map the vast amount of research across the ecosystem and pinpoint collaboration opportunities to accelerate breakthroughs. ACT will then provide grant funding to encourage collaboration and utilize challenge platforms’ reach and expertise to tackle critical barriers from novel angles.

ACT’s Collaboration Forum will identify other ways to reduce carbon emissions by expediting adoption and scaling-up of next generation technologies. ACT will engage with experts, activists, policy makers, and thought leaders to facilitate the deployment of innovative technologies.