How Integrating SAF into Aviation Fuel Supply Chains Requires Collaboration between Stakeholders

September 25, 2024

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by Paige Smith (Business Airport International) The business aviation sector has long been committed to reducing it’s carbon footprint, and sustainable aviation fuel represents a significant breakthrough the industry’s efforts. However, the transition to biofuels is complex, requiring advancements in technology, infrastructure, and regulatory frameworks.

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“SAF supplied by Air bp uses a blend of renewable feedstocks on a mass balance basis,” says Rieve (Sven Rieve, Air bp’s sustainability manager).

Fellow supplier Neste derives its SAF from used cooking oil and animal fat waste, both of which are 100% renewable. “Neste’s SAF is made from 100% renewable waste and residue raw materials that are sustainably sourced,” says Neste. This approach allows for a significant reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of up to 80% over the fuel’s life cycle compared to conventional jet fuel, according to the company.

Neste has developed a robust system to ensure that the renewable products and raw materials used in production meet stringent sustainability criteria. “We carefully select suppliers and only accept renewable raw materials from those that are able to meet strict criteria for sustainability,” adds a Neste spokesperson.

Limited feedstocks

The hydrotreated esters and fatty acids (HEFA) pathway dominates SAF production, driven by its lower capital costs and readily available feedstocks.

“Most of the SAF supplied today in the market is derived using the hydrotreated esters and fatty acids pathway,” says Rieve. This pathway processes feedstocks through standard hydrocracker units after pre-treatment.

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“New production pathways, such as alcohol-to-jet and power-to-liquid, are essential for cost-effectively scaling up SAF production volume,” he adds.

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Rieve highlights the need for rapid commercial-scale mobilization of sustainable feedstocks, including high-energy crops like algae, Camelina, penny-cress, tallow tree, and carinata. “We promote the use of cover crops as a feedstock when they do not require additional land demand,” he says.

Most production pathways start at a very small scale, gradually increasing to full commercial production. This incremental scaling requires significant investment, and both the US and EU have set up investment or loan incentives to support companies. “The US and EU’s investment and loan incentives help companies get over part of this significant hurdle to market,” says Ricci.

Ensuring SAF is sustainable

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Certification is fundamental to ensuring that SAF is truly sustainable and fully traceable.

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“In essence, you can’t cut down a rainforest or use other non-sustainable sources such as palm oil for SAF,” says Ricci.

Currently, the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) and the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) are the two major certification schemes for SAF.

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Regulatory authorities and policy makers are playing a vital role in expanding SAF supply, reducing costs, and enhancing sustainability.

“Effective SAF-specific policies and programs should be stable over time, stackable with other incentives, technology neutral, and operate in alignment with greenhouse gas emission reduction targets,” says Ricci.

A standardized methodology for calculating life cycle emissions is crucial for bolstering confidence in SAF’s environmental impact. “Understanding the nuances and variation of different sustainability and GHG emissions saving criteria is important,” Ricci says. This alignment would facilitate industry and government cooperation, enhancing SAF’s credibility and demand.

Challenges with blending

Blending SAF with conventional jet fuel presents technical challenges, primarily due to the lack of aromatics in synthetically produced SAF.

Aromatics are unsaturated hydrocarbons that cause fuel system seals to swell, preventing leaks. “Out of caution, a maximum blend of 50% was set for SAF with Jet A for it to qualify as jet fuel,” explains Ricci.

Commercially, blends of 30-38% are typical due to the complexity of achieving higher quality standards. “Above this level, you must care about the quality of jet fuel used for blending to reach certification, so it is more economical to target these lower blends,” says Ricci.

Future SAF that include aromatics or can be blended with synthetic aromatics could potentially be certified at 100%.

Scaling up SAF

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Building a SAF production plant is a complex and time-consuming process, often taking up to seven years. “Even before this time, there are many steps, assessments, and studies conducted to help ensure the sustainability and scalability of a certain production method,” explains Ricci. These steps include life cycle assessments, techno-economic analysis, policy reviews, and extensive engineering and design.

In 2022, bp’s Lingen refinery began producing SAF from used cooking oil, marking Germany’s first industrial production facility using co-processing to produce SAF from waste and residues. This process integrates used cooking oil with crude oil in existing facilities, resulting in SAF as one of the end products.

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Neste’s commitment to scaling SAF production is evident in their current and planned capabilities. As of now, Neste’s global SAF production capability stands at 1 million tons per annum, with the Singapore refinery being the world’s largest SAF production facility post-expansion in 2023. By 2024, Neste aims to increase this capacity to 1.5 million metric tons, with further investments boosting it to 2.2 million tons by 2026.

The environmental impact of using Neste’s SAF is profound, with GHG emissions reduced by up to 80% over the fuel’s life cycle.

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Knowledge is power

Raising awareness and knowledge about SAF among the aviation industry, regulators, businesses, and individual travelers is essential.

“Every stakeholder has the responsibility to act on their carbon emissions, and SAF provides them a means to do so today,” says the Neste spokesperson.

Despite the promising developments, SAF still costs more to produce than fossil jet fuel, necessitating regulatory support to drive market adoption.

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Rieve also believes that the use of sustainable feedstocks that do not demand additional land and support sustainable farming practices are paramount.

Barriers

Several barriers hinder the widespread adoption of SAF, including high costs, feedstock availability, and long time horizons for establishing refineries.

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There can also be logistical challenges in transporting SAF.

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“If you blend SAF at 33% right at the production source, you will have to transport three times as much fuel to a fuel terminal compared to if you can wait to blend the fuel at or near the terminal and only transport the neat SAF.

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“Transporting neat SAF requires some different infrastructure changes and you cannot always use existing pipeline networks. In addition, moving SAF far from its production source raises not only its cost but also its carbon intensity,” Ricci says. READ MORE

Related articles

SAF market is far from takeoff: Airlines (Argus Media)

Excerpt from Argus Media: Airline executives descended on climate events in New York this week to emphasize their commitments to use more sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) — and to hint that these goals will prove difficult absent additional government support.

At events tied to the UN General Assembly and Climate Week NYC, supporters of alternative jet fuels said that a range of policies were growing the market, including tax incentives, US states' low-carbon fuel standards and increasingly stringent mandates for SAF usage in the EU. While US production capacity of SAF is expected to rise significantly in the coming years, there is still concern that limited supply and a steep premium to conventional petroleum jet fuel will hinder adoption.

SAF "will always be more expensive because it's a better product," said Aaron Robinson, vice president of US SAF for the International Airlines Group, a holding company that includes British Airways and Iberia.

Executives, while calling generally for more policies to stimulate supply and demand, were more inclined to support subsidies over mandates. The airline industry already runs on tight margins, and executives fear that prospective customers could stay home instead of paying more for lower-carbon flights.

"I think the worst thing we could do right now is choose a very short-term solution that takes that green premium and directly saddles it onto our customers," said Delta Air Lines chief sustainability officer Amelia DeLuca. She argued that the EU's SAF mandates were "pushing the fuel forward a little bit too fast in terms of where the supply and the green premium are."

Still, the most prominent government subsidy for SAF — a tax credit kicking off next year in the US that will offer up to $1.75/USG for domestic SAF producers — was described as helpful but insufficient. The Inflation Reduction Act, which included that credit, was "historic, monumental, not good enough," said United Airlines chief sustainability officer Lauren Riley.

President Joe Biden's administration has frustrated US biofuel groups by not yet providing guidance around qualifying for that credit, known as "45Z," which requires SAF to meet an initial carbon intensity threshold and increases the subsidy as the fuel's greenhouse gas emissions fall. Regardless, airlines and fuel producers say that the credit — which expires at the end of 2027 — is too short-lived to build up a supply chain. READ MORE

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woody biomass vegetable oils value chain used cooking oil (UCO) UK (United Kingdom) Transportation Fuels Policy tax credits tallow tree tallow Sustainability supply chain sugar Spain Singapore Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBO) pennycress/stinkweed MSW (Municipal Solid Waste) mandates life cycle analysis (LCA) Jetfuel (Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)) Investing International Sustainability and Carbon Certification model(ISCC) Hydrogen/Renewable Hydrogen HEFA (Hydro-processed esters and fatty acids) grease grains GHG (Greenhouse Gas Emissions) Intensity GHG (Greenhouse Gas Emissions) Germany forest residue/waste FOG (Fats/Oils/Grease) Finland environmental policy cover crops CORSIA (Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation) commercialization co-processing certification Carbon Intensity (CI)/Carbon Footprint Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Camelina BioRefineries/Renewable Fuel Production Aviation Fuel/Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) aviation fuel (SAF) tax credit aviation fuel (SAF) price aviation fuel (SAF) mandates animal fat algae alcohol-to-jet (ATJ)/ethanol-to-jet (ETJ) Agricultural waste/residue 45Z Clean Fuel Production Tax Credit tax policy

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