Leaders See Need for More Buy-in on SAF

by Kerry Lynch (AIN Online) ... In the short term, SAF, coupled with carbon offset credits and book-and-claim, are viewed as the most immediate steps to get there. The book-and-claim process allows customers who wish to use SAF but are not in an area where it is available at the pump (in the U.S., mainly West Coast locations near SAF production facilities) to purchase the fuel and receive credit for it under the various emission accounting programs. The fuel is then dispensed into and ultimately burned by another aircraft elsewhere.

However, much of the business aviation community appears unsure. A JetNet IQ survey released during the National Air Transportation Association’s (NATA) Aviation Business Conference in November in Miami found that when asked whether they would seriously consider flying with SAF in the next 24 months, just 10.4 percent of the respondents in North America said they would “strongly agree” while another 20.4 percent said they “somewhat agree.” Moreover, 25.4 percent in North America said they would “strongly disagree.”

In Europe, which has been viewed as a leader on the sustainability front, the numbers appear only slightly better, with 11.5 percent saying they would “strongly agree,” 21.2 percent “somewhat agree,” and 17.3 percent “strongly disagree.”

In fact, one of the early adopters in the SAF arena, California-headquartered Clay Lacy Aviation, has seen a slow but growing demand from operators. Scott Cutshall, the company’s senior v-p of development and sustainability, told attendees at AIN’s Building a Sustainable Flight Department forum in Dallas in November that Clay Lacy began carrying the fuel in April at its Southern California FBOs and has since sold less than 10,000 gallons.

When the FBO began to offer SAF, “we started getting calls. And people have a lot of questions” but “It hasn't started to translate into purchases until the last few months.”

While Cutshall added, “We haven't seen the volume of or uptake that we were originally hoping for,” he did express optimism that there will be an uptick this year as more operators budget for it. “I think we're going to start to see greater adoption.”

Helping that is the fact that the price differential is narrowing. By November, the price differential was 56 cents more per gallon than conventional jet-A in Van Nuys for its 30 percent SAF blend.

NATA president and CEO Timothy Obitts, speaking at his association’s Aviation Business Conference, underscored the importance of adoption. “On [reducing carbon] emissions, sustainable aviation fuel is a silver bullet to help us.” Noting discussions surrounding fears of SAF costing too much, Obitts said, “that is a narrow-sighted way to look at it.” SAF has “much higher” value, he said, noting the perception of business aviation globally and the flight-shaming that occurs.

Ford von Weise, director and global head of aircraft finance at Citi Private Bank, clearly spelled out the perceptions issue during Corporate Jet Investor Miami 2021 ahead of the NATA conference: “We are a huge, monstrous target. Why? Because the individual carbon footprint of every one of our clients is outsized. It's huge. Why else? Because we are fat cats, supposedly.” It doesn’t matter the reality if perception casts this shadow over business aviation.

He further warned that business aviation organizations face significant perception, regulatory, financing, and other risks if they don’t build a sustainability plan into their business model, and he noted his own institution is evaluating how it looks at risk. A piece of that is climate, environmental, and social risk management, he said and called SAF a key part of the solution to these risks.

It (European Union) hopes to achieve this through mandates, one of which would involve a carbon tax that would begin at the equivalent of $1.78 per gallon of fuel for business aviation in 2023 and continue from there.

Meanwhile, the UK is looking at its Jet Zero plan to achieve net-zero for aviation by 2050. This includes a flexible outlook, with multiple solutions, international leadership, and partnerships. In the U.S., stepped-up funding for a number of research programs has been floated, as well as initiatives to promote the expansion of SAF.

From a fuel provider's perspective, Lindsey Grant, manager of general aviation in the U.S. for Phillips 66, noted the steep investment required from the fuel makers, including logistics, tankering, and transportation, but she added, the industry needs to show a commitment to accepting the product. A lack of interest over cost worries “is not going to help incentivize producers to produce it. And until you’ve got that incentive there’s going to be a premium with it.”

She echoed other sentiments that companies looking to lower their carbon footprint should be particularly interested in using SAF. “You are not going to get the benefit of the claim [of lowering an organization’s footprint] without paying that additional premium.”

Darren Fuller, v-p of business development for business aviation at World Fuel Services, agreed, telling attendees at the AIN sustainability forum in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that supply remains a big impediment to wider adoption and that “operators need to make big public commitments to SAF—this is required for investment in SAF production.”

Even when SAF supply rises it still won’t be available at every airport, so Fuller said operators will need to use book-and-claim as a strategy to reduce their carbon footprint.

Obitts, who additionally spoke during the AIN sustainability forum in September in New York, said the goal is to expand annual U.S. production from less than two million gallons currently to three billion gallons by 2030, and then 100 percent of business aviation's turbine fuel needs by 2050. This is critical to meeting the industry’s sustainability ambitions, he said.

Participating in the AIN forum in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in December, 4Air COO Nancy Bsales advised that business aviation operators can “set small goals now—such as committing to buying sustainable aviation fuel equating to 5 percent of your total fuel uptake—and then increase it later,” she told the attendees. “Even just one SAF uplift is a step.” READ MORE