Bizav Leaders Describe SAF Benefits, Costs
by Bill Carey (Aviation Week) Even as biofuel suppliers and fixed-base operators (FBOs) ramp up the availability of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), aircraft operators remain uncertain about the composition of SAF and the complexity of using it to claim emissions reductions, business aviation leaders say.
“SAF is Jet A,” said Stewart D’Leon, NBAA director of environmental and technical operations. “It’s extremely important to understand that because a lot of individuals are thinking ‘this is something different, it’s an additive, the aircraft is going to operate different.’ It’s not an additive. It is Jet A that is just produced by recycling carbon that is already in the atmosphere. That is where the [carbon] reduction is coming from; it’s from the lifecycle of that fuel.”
D’Leon and other panelists provided an update on global emissions reduction mandates and carbon-offsetting efforts April 5 at the NBAA Schedulers and Dispatchers Conference. The association formed a sustainability subcommittee last year to drive environmental awareness and help business aircraft operators pursue initiatives necessary to achieve an industry-wide goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
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Jordan advised that operators budget a year in advance to use SAF, which comes at “green premium” cost of a dollar or more per gallon over conventional Jet A. “We’re adding to our direct operating costs,” he explained. “We’re going to have to take this to our principals, take this to our owners and validate this.”
Netflix committed during 2021-22 to solely using SAF for its shuttle fleet of four Beechcraft King Air 350 turboprops, which it uses to move employees between Burbank and San Jose, California. The streaming service is also evaluating the emissions reductions that can be gained by using SAF for its three Gulfstream G550 long-range jets, Jordan told BCA. Part of its strategy will be to use book-and-claim programs that allow operators to purchase a specific quantity of SAF even where it is not available—paying the premium in order to claim an emissions reduction credit. READ MORE
Avfuel, SAF Supplier Neste Exhibit Together (Aviation Week)
Neste Teams With Avfuel at SDC (AIN Online)
Excerpt from Aviation Week: Aviation fuel supplier Avfuel Corp. for the first time is exhibiting with renewable fuels producer Neste at the annual NBAA Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference (SDC2022), being held April 5-7 in San Diego. Avfuel, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Finland-based Neste announced a distribution… READ MORE
