“impactful voices” – podcast
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Episode 7: Turning Waste Carbon into Jet Fuel: The Future of Carbon Recycling with Freya Burton
In this episode of impactful voices, we speak with Freya Burton about carbon recycling, industrial waste emissions, and alternative Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) pathways.
LanzaTech has developed a technology that captures waste carbon from industrial processes — such as steel production — before it enters the atmosphere and converts it into ethanol, which can then be transformed into products ranging from packaging and textiles to Sustainable Aviation Fuel.
Together, we explore the concept of carbon utilisation and how emissions can be viewed not only as a climate problem, but also as a valuable resource.
Key topics include:
- What “carbon recycling” actually means
- The concept of “carbon prevention” vs carbon removal
- How industrial waste carbon can be converted into ethanol and SAF
- Circularity and whether aviation emissions could eventually be reused in future fuel cycles
- The complexity of emissions accounting and regulatory frameworks
- Why SAF scaling is an ecosystem challenge involving infrastructure, policy, investment, and industry collaboration
- The barriers emerging SAF technologies still face in reaching scale
This episode offers a fascinating look into one of the more unconventional — yet increasingly relevant — approaches to aviation decarbonization.
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Episode 6: Solving SAF’s Offtake Problem: Demand Aggregation and Price Certainty with Arnaud Namer
In this episode of impactful voices, we speak with Arnaud Namer about one of the most critical bottlenecks in scaling Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF): demand certainty.
While SAF is widely recognised as a key lever for aviation decarbonization, the industry still faces a fundamental challenge — aligning producers and buyers in a way that enables long-term investment.
We explore the so-called “offtake dilemma”:
Producers require long-term, stable contracts to secure financing for billion-dollar facilities, while airlines hesitate to commit due to uncertainty around future prices, technologies, and market evolution.This is where demand aggregation comes in.
Arnaud explains how Atoba Energy approaches this challenge by acting as a central risk management layer — building diversified portfolios of SAF producers to reduce uncertainty across technologies, feedstocks, and pricing.
Key topics include:
Why SAF will remain a critical solution for decades — even alongside emerging technologies
Why securing long-term SAF offtake agreements remains so difficult
The role of demand aggregation in unlocking SAF financing
How portfolio-based approaches can reduce risk across technologies and feedstocks
The importance of independent price indices in creating long-term price certainty
How Book & Claim and physical delivery models interact in different regulatory contexts
Why SAF markets differ from renewable energy — and what can still be learned
The role of complementary mechanisms such as double-sided auctions and revenue certainty schemes
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Episode 5: Financing Aviation’s Transition: Risk, Uncertainty & the Aviation Sustainability Index with Tom Conlon
In this episode of impactful voices, we speak with Tom Conlon about one of the defining challenges of aviation decarbonization: uncertainty.
Why is aviation considered one of the hardest sectors to decarbonize? And why does uncertainty continue to slow investment, financing, and large-scale transition efforts?
Together, we unpack the structural complexity of aviation — from low industry margins and rising fuel costs to competing technologies, regulatory uncertainty, and the long timelines required to scale Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and other solutions. A key theme throughout the conversation is risk. Investors, financiers, and airlines all face uncertainty around future regulation, technology pathways, demand growth, and climate transition impacts. We also explore the Aviation Sustainability Index (ASI) — a scientifically vetted framework developed to help reduce uncertainty and support sustainability-linked financing in aviation.
Key topics include:
• Why aviation remains one of the most difficult sectors to decarbonize
• The role of uncertainty in slowing capital deployment
• Financial barriers and why investors hesitate to commit
• Transition risk vs physical climate risk in aviation finance
• What the Aviation Sustainability Index (ASI) measures and how it works
• How ASI can support sustainable finance and reduce greenwashing risk
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Episode 4: Making SAF Bankable: Financing Challenges and the Market Accelerator Indicator with Adam Klauber
In this episode of impactful Voices, we explore the complex challenges of financing and infrastructure for sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), and innovative solutions designed to accelerate market growth. Adam Klauber from World Energy shares practical insights on how to make SAF projects more bankable and scalable in the near future and explains a potential solution to the problem: the Market Accelerator Indicator (MAI).
Key topics covered:
• The current state of SAF financing and the key barriers including high costs and limited airline budgets
• Lessons from renewable energy sector models, especially power purchase agreements (PPAs), for SAF financing
• The role of long-term offtake agreements and how they improve bankability for SAF projects
• The concept of ‘Book and Claim’ system for environmental credits, its benefits, and potential challenges
• Introduction to the Market Accelerator Indicator (MAI): aims to incentivize and scale SAF investments
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Episode 3: CORSIA, EU ETS & Geopolitics: Rethinking Risk in Aviation’s Transition with Barry MossIn this episode of impactful voices, we speak with Barry about the evolving risk landscape in aviation — from climate policy to geopolitics. We explore two of the most important regulatory frameworks shaping aviation decarbonization today: CORSIA and the EU ETS. What were they designed to achieve, where are the key implementation challenges, and what do they mean in practice for airlines, banks, and lessors? Taking a risk management lens, this conversation goes beyond compliance. We discuss how environmental regulation is becoming a material financial risk — and how uncertainty around offset supply, penalties, and policy developments is reshaping decision-making across the aviation ecosystem. Given current global developments, we also expand the discussion to a broader question: What does risk management look like in a new geopolitical era? The conversation highlights how climate risk and geopolitical risk are increasingly interconnected — and why ignoring either is no longer an option. This episode offers a timely perspective on how aviation stakeholders can navigate complexity, uncertainty, and transition risk in a rapidly changing world.
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Episode 2: Navigating the SAF Landscape in North America with Ken Hill
This conversation delves into the evolving landscape of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) policies and market developments in North America, particularly focusing on the United States and Canada. Ken Hill discusses the recent regulatory changes, the impact of state-level initiatives, and the differences between US and European approaches to SAF. The conversation also highlights Canada’s proactive measures in SAF production and the significance of 2026 as a pivotal year for the SAF market. Overall, the discussion reflects a mix of optimism and uncertainty regarding the future of SAF, emphasizing the importance of economic drivers alongside environmental considerations. Takeaways A lot is happening in the SAF industry in North America. The Clean Fuels Production Tax Credit is a key incentive. There are many uncertainties surrounding SAF regulations. State-level initiatives are crucial for SAF deployment. California’s low carbon fuel standard has been successful. The US approach favors incentives over mandates. Canada is making significant changes to its SAF policies. 2026 will be a pivotal year for SAF in North America. Economic development is a major driver for SAF production. There is optimism about the future of SAF despite uncertainties.
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Episode 1: Navigating Aviation’s Transition and impact’s role with Ulrike Ziegler
In this episode, Ulrike Ziegler, a seasoned expert in aviation finance and board member of impact, shares insights into how the industry can accelerate its journey toward net zero. We explore the challenges of measurement, the importance of cross-stakeholder coordination, and practical steps for industry-wide decarbonization.
Key Topics
- The origins of impact and its role in unifying sustainability efforts in aviation finance
- The impact of global policies on decarbonization and the need for simple, robust metrics
- The importance of transparency and data quality in tracking decarbonization progress
- Lessons learned from UK’s Jet Zero and opportunities for global collaboration
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impactful voices – Introduction
Welcome to impactful voices — a curated video conversation series by impact on sustainable aviation.
In this podcast, we bring together leading experts from across finance, policy, industry, science, and civil society to discuss the real challenges behind aviation’s transition to net zero. Aviation is one of the hardest sectors to decarbonize — shaped by regulatory pressure, capital intensity, technological uncertainty, and complex global supply chains.
Each episode dives into the most pressing topics in aviation sustainability. We explore both the small and the big levers that can accelerate progress, examine funding constraints and market dynamics, and highlight practical, solution-oriented pathways forward.
Rather than oversimplifying industry debates, impactful voices aims to make them more informed, constructive, and actionable.
Hosted by impact, this series gives a platform to the diverse stakeholders shaping aviation’s sustainability transformation — and connects the financial and aviation communities working to turn ambition into implementation.
New episodes released bi-weekly on Spotify and YouTube.