Adam Durant, a volcanologist turned entrepreneur, founded SATAVIA in 2013 because he is passionate about ending aviation’s impact on the climate. He recognizes we must look beyond carbon emissions to fully understand the aviation industry’s impact on our climate. While many in aviation focus exclusively on sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), or even hydrogen, to combat climate change, Mr. Durant and his colleagues at SATAVIA are focused exclusively on producing technology to address the cause of nearly two-thirds of the aviation industry’s climate impact – contrails. SATAVIA hopes major airlines will utilize its contrail avoidance technology.
SATAVIA’s Advanced Contrail Forecast Model: DECISIONX
SATAVIA has developed a complex weather modeling platform called DECISIONX. DECISIONX analyzes weather, geography, and air traffic conditions to forecast the exact areas where high-level ice clouds are expected to form.
Using the DECISIONX model, SATAVIA engineers analyze an airline’s schedule to target the 5 to 10 percent of flights likely to cause long lasting and warming contrails and design a flight plan to minimize contrail formation. The flight plan details when and where pilots should change their altitude or route to avoid flying through parts of the atmosphere where warming contrails are likely to form and is provided to pilots and flight crew on the day of the flight. About a week after the flight, SATAVIA’s crew analyzes the flight data to verify the avoided climate impact of each flight.
Commercial Airlines Begin Adopting SATAVIA’s Technology
In October 2021, Etihad Airways chartered the first commercial flight utilizing SATAVIA’s technology. Pleased with the results, Etihad Airways began weekly contrail avoidance programs for flights across their route network. The project went so well that Etihad signed the world’s first multi-year contract integrating SATAVIA’s software into their routine flight operations.
Per the press release announcing the contract, “the agreement will expand the scope for SATAVIA technology to prevent warming aircraft contrails in day-to-day commercial aviation, while also enabling collaboration on the generation of future carbon credits.”
SATAVIA is also conducting similar trials with Dutch airline KLM.
SATAVIA Offers Carbon Credits to Make Their Model More Attractive to Airlines
SATAVIA has pinpointed the aviation industry’s failure to prioritize reducing aviation’s non-CO2 emissions. While some airlines are showing willingness to develop SAFs, most have not expressed interest in contrail avoidance.
That’s where carbon credits come in. Carbon credits can be purchased by companies that aren’t capable of limiting their emissions to fund other businesses that can, in order to offset the overall output of CO2. SATAVIA offers carbon credits to airlines that use their technology as an initiative to evoke more interest and to market their technology.
In August 2023, Gold Standard approved SATAVIA’S contrail management methodology concept to offer carbon credits to aircraft operatives as an incentive to reduce contrail formation.
Since Gold Standard sets the standard for climate and development interventions to quantify, certify and maximize climate impact, this may be the perfect incentive for other commercial airlines to begin implementing SATAVIA’s technology.
“Our practical approach to contrail mitigation offers an incentive for aircraft operators to immediately start cutting their non-CO2 climate footprint, which we hope will drive rapid adoption across the industry today.” 1 Dr. Adam Durant, CEO SATAVIA.
[1] Gold Standard approves aircraft contrails methodology concept | The Gold Standard