Virgin’s ad on “sustainable” fuel banned!

[executiveclubber]

Remember the HfP article on this one?

Virgin Atlantic just confirmed that sustainable aviation fuel produced the same level of CO2 emissions during flight as traditional jet fuel.

And the UK Advertising Standards Authority have banned an ad on it, saying consumers are likely to expect ‘100% sustainable aviation fuel’ to mean that this fuel has little to no environmental impact.

In fact, ‘Sustainable Aviation Fuel’ (SAF) is akin to a brand name, with contested scientific evidence on the use of ‘sustainable’. Burning SAF in flight still emits huge amounts of CO2e, and the land use required to produce SAF at commercial levels is significant.

Read more here https://www.asa.org.uk/rulings/virgin-atlantic-airways-ltd-g23-1224417-virgin-atlantic-airways-ltd.html

[nike85]

Forgive my misunderstanding but I thought sustainable meant it isn’t going to run out whereas fossil fuel is a finite source ? vs. carbon emissions being a separate problem?

[AL]

nike85 wrote:

Forgive my misunderstanding but I thought sustainable meant it isn’t going to run out whereas fossil fuel is a finite source ? vs. carbon emissions being a separate problem?

Yes – this is correct. But the ASA upheld on the basis that they thought a number of people would consider the opposite. I am struggling to see how illiteracy results in Virgin Atlantic being chastised, but there are many things about the UK I struggle to comprehend. Perhaps we need a Virgin marketing campaign of old… it’s a shame there are no literacy charities based straight across the road from them to which some marketing funds could be diverted.

[Rui N.]

nike85 wrote:

Forgive my misunderstanding but I thought sustainable meant it isn’t going to run out whereas fossil fuel is a finite source ? vs. carbon emissions being a separate problem?

That would be “renewable” not “sustainable”.
This is unironically a Brexit benefit. Sustainable Aviation Fuel is a term invented by the EU using the technical acronym SAF (which stands for synthetic aviation fuel, synthetic in this case meaning “not made from fossil fuels”). And that name is now part of EU law, so if we were still in the EU Virgin would have a much better case against the Advertising Standards Authority – the term sustainable aviatioon fuels is widely used in the UK too, but has not made into law like that.