Sustainability In The Air
Aviation has many paths to net zero, and few are straightforward. Sustainability in the Air cuts through the noise with clear, expert-led conversations on what’s actually advancing a more sustainable future for flight in one of the hardest sectors to decarbonise.
💚 Twice a month, SimpliFlying CEO Shashank Nigam speaks with airline, airport, travel, and energy leaders to unpack the decisions shaping aviation’s climate future.
💚 Each month, our Head of Sustainability Dirk Singer adds a Signal episode spotlighting the tech founders building aviation’s next wave of climate innovation.
Whether you work in aviation, advise it, or simply care about the future of travel, this podcast is for you.
For enquiries: podcast@simpliflying.com
For more content on sustainable aviation, visit simpliflying.com and join the movement. It’s about time.
Sustainability In The Air
From geothermal to green jet fuel: How Iceland could become aviation’s SAF bridge
In this episode, we speak with Nanna Baldvinsdottir, co-founder of IðunnH2, about how Iceland’s unique energy system could turn the country into a green fuel bridge between Europe and North America.
A veteran of Iceland’s power sector, Nanna has spent two decades working in renewables before turning to hydrogen and e-fuels development.
Nanna shares how IðunnH2 is developing a 300 MW, ~70,000 tonne-per-year e-SAF project near Keflavík International Airport, designed first to decarbonise Icelandic aviation and only then supply the wider world via book-and-claim. She explains why social licence for new wind power, local energy security, and predictable permitting make Iceland a testbed for scaling e-fuels where other regions are still stuck on the drawing board.
Nanna discusses:
- Why SAF, not hydrogen export, came out on top in IðunnH2’s feasibility work – and how switching mid-study unlocked a path to true commercial scale rather than niche pilot projects.
- The Helguvík project: locating a commercial-scale e-kerosene facility a stone’s throw from Iceland’s main international airport, using 100% renewable power contracted via long-term PPAs.
- Book-and-claim as a strategic tool: using it to serve committed early partners like Luxaviation and other motivated buyers outside Iceland, while keeping the bulk of production for Icelandic decarbonisation.
- Moving beyond “Jet A price parity”: why chasing price parity with fossil jet fuel misses the point since jet fuel is heavily subsidised and untaxed, and how 15-year price stability can be more valuable to airlines than simply being the cheapest.
- Her role as a “system builder”: why e-fuel plants are far more complex than traditional power projects, and what it takes to keep partners aligned on timelines, risk, margins, and ambition.
- The wider Icelandic hydrogen roadmap: how aviation, maritime, and road transport could all draw on the same hydrogen and e-fuels backbone as the market matures.
Learn more about the innovators who are navigating the industry’s challenges to make sustainable aviation a reality, in our new book “Sustainability in the Air: Volume 2.” Click here to learn more.
Feel free to reach out via email to podcast@simpliflying.com. For more content on sustainable aviation, visit our website green.simpliflying.com and join the movement. It’s about time.
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