GreenAir News

Announced sustainable aviation fuel projects represent over three billion gallons of annual domestic production capacity in the United States by 2030, surpassing the target set under the US SAF Grand Challenge target, finds a new report from the US U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), reports Christopher Surgenor for GreenAir News. The announced capacity correlates to over 10% of projected US jet fuel demand, over $44 billion of investment and more than 70,000 jobs across the SAF value chain, says the report, which will be presented at #COP29 in Baku on November 21. The biggest barrier to SAF scale-up remains its price, which is currently two to ten times more than fossil jet fuel, says DOE, depending on the feedstock and conversion technology used to produce it. In October, DOE’s Loan Programs Office | U.S. Department of Energy Office announced conditional commitments to issue over $1.4 billion dollars in loan guarantees each to renewable fuels companies Montana Renewables, LLC and Gevo, Inc. Net-Zero 1 to help finance their SAF production facilities. #sustainableaviation #sustainableaviationfuel https://lnkd.in/esPT9dBc

A new group, the Asia Sustainable Aviation Fuel Association (ASAFA), has been launched in #Singapore to help accelerate pan-Asia production and use of low carbon aero fuels, reports Tony Harrington for GreenAir News. Although the Asia-Pacific region is the largest consolidated market for air travel, accounting for almost 32% of global air passenger journeys, it lags both Europe and the US in SAF momentum. ASAFA brings together a range of participants in the SAF sector, from feedstock producers to policymakers, to collectively address core challenges, including standardising regulatory policies across the region, enhancing market frameworks, and raising awareness of the fuels through initiatives ranging from monthly workshops and webinars to industry white papers. Its aim is to uniformly progress SAF development and deployment in key sub-regions including Southeast Asia, Japan, South Korea and the world’s second and third largest aviation markets, China and India. Founding member organisations include Korean Air; DHL Group; SkyNRG; 1PointFive; Bureau Veritas Group; PT Green Energi Utama; Marquis Energy Global Pte. Ltd.; Quantum Commodity Intelligence; and the EU-ASEAN Business Council. Additionally, ASAFA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Singapore’s A*STAR - Agency for Science, Technology and Research. #sustainableaviation #sustainableaviationfuel https://lnkd.in/epPuySV5

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has signed an agreement with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) to boost financing opportunities for sustainable aviation fuels and other cleaner aviation energy projects, reports Christopher Surgenor for GreenAir News. The Memorandum of Cooperation was signed at the recent #G20 Energy Ministerial meeting in Brazil and will allow the exploration of pathways to operationalise the ICAO Finvest Hub by facilitating the identification of financial resources for scaling up SAF, lower carbon aviation fuels (LCAF) and other cleaner energy solutions. ICAO estimates that around $3.2 trillion in investments will be needed for cleaner aviation fuel production alone if its long-term aspirational goal (LTAG) of net zero emissions from international aviation by 2050 is to be achieved. ICAO is an active participant at the #COP29 climate meeting, which starts today in Baku, with the UN agency’s Council President addressing a side event. #sustainableaviation #sustainableaviationfuel https://lnkd.in/ekZc3fgz

Aviation technology group SITA has expanded a partnership with the Arab Air Carriers Organization (AACO) to develop a planning tool which helps airlines reduce aircraft fuel consumption, emissions and operating costs, and more easily comply with complex and increasing environmental regulations, reports Tony Harrington for GreenAir News. SITA Eco Mission was developed over a year through collaboration with AACO and three of its member airlines to streamline collection and assessment of information which carriers need to report as part of their environmental compliance obligations. Abdul Teffaha, AACO’s Secretary General, said the product had grown from a need for airlines to manage increasingly complex sustainability requirements, while also providing transparency to both regulators and customers. Meanwhile, key AACO member Qatar Airways has strengthened its sustainability partnership with Virgin Australia, a commercial ally of which it has announced plans to acquire a 25% stake, subject to regulatory approval. #sustainableaviation https://lnkd.in/e3JFtyT4

Aircraft lessor Jackson Square Aviation and specialist financial services company Future Energy Global (FEG) have partnered to help generate investments needed to accelerate the production of sustainable aviation fuel, reports Tony Harrington for GreenAir News. Like leasing companies placing large orders for new aircraft, FEG was formed in January to aggregate the SAF requirements of multiple customers, then use the combined amounts to book large volumes of the fuels at favourable prices. This boosts the order books and confidence of evolving SAF makers, helping them to attract funding for infrastructure and production, while also providing customers, particularly smaller airlines and corporate buyers, with access to more affordable supplies of alternative fuels which they might not be able to achieve independently. Through the new partnership, Jackson Square’s airline customers will have access not only to SAF pre-purchased by FEG, but also to its network of corporate SAF buyers and suppliers, helping drive up demand for and production of the fuel.  #sustainableaviation #sustainableaviationnews https://lnkd.in/eJYVBCF5

A feasibility study jointly conducted by Air New Zealand and US-based waste-to-fuel developer LanzaJet has concluded that up to 25% of New Zealand’s domestic aviation fuel needs could be met using sustainable aviation fuel produced locally using woody waste residue as a feedstock, reports Tony Harrington for GreenAir News. The SAF would be produced through a two-stage process, initially converting the wood to ethanol using the CirculAir carbon recycling technology developed by LanzaJet and its sibling, LanzaTech, then using LanzaJet’s alcohol-to-jet (AtJ) pathway to transform the ethanol to SAF. The airline’s Chief Sustainability and Corporate Affairs Officer, Kiri Hannifin, said the findings were “very positive for a country that is heavily reliant on long-haul aviation and trade and currently imports 100% of its jet fuel.” The NZ study result closely followed the announcement of a carbon-to-SAF partnership between LanzaTech and emerging Australian SAF producer Wagner Sustainable Fuels, and another in Japan between LanzaTech and the SEKISUI CHEMICAL Company to convert municipal and industrial waste to ethanol then SAF. #sustainableaviation #sustainableaviationfuel https://lnkd.in/e2XBg4r3

Airbus is to collaborate with two major airlines, European low-cost operator Wizz Air and full-service Taiwanese international carrier EVA Airways Corp., to help each prepare for the imminent introduction of sustainable aviation fuel, reports Tony Harrington for GreenAir News. The airframer will partner with Wizz Air for SAF-powered trials of Airbus A321neo jets on two key routes, from Barcelona and Brussels Charleroi to the airline’s hub in Budapest, in readiness for the introduction next year of the SAF usage mandates at EU airports under the #ReFuelEU plan. Airbus will also work with EVA Air for the next two years to explore multiple ways to help decarbonise the carrier’s flights while also preparing for the introduction of SAF. Their sustainability partnership was announced in Taipei during an event to mark the airline’s order for 33 new Airbus jets. #sustainableaviation #sustainableaviationfuel https://lnkd.in/euZc57BF

Analysis by Brussels-based pressure group Transport & Environment (T&E) has found that emissions from business flying by the pharma sector business dropped 21% in 2023 compared to pre-Covid 2019 levels, reports Christopher Surgenor for GreenAir News. This compares to a fall in the business travel emissions of global consultancies by 46% and technology companies by 49% measured over the same period. T&E is leading a campaign, Travel Smart, to reduce corporate air travel emissions by 50% or more from 2019 levels, and says by flying less now, companies can make a big contribution to aviation sustainability. Business travellers make up some 12% of passengers but up to 75% of revenues on certain flights, so their choices have important leverage on the aviation industry, it argues. #sustainableaviation #businesstravel #corporatetravel #businesstravelemissions https://lnkd.in/ejxX_Kbm

A high-profile European coalition has joined forces to urgently advance the production of e-SAF – sustainable aviation fuels produced by combining renewable electricity, water and captured carbon dioxide. Project SkyPower brings together 13 CEOs and more than 50 companies including airlines, airports, energy companies and financiers to push for government policies that enable production of e-SAF from 2030, writes Tony Harrington for GreenAir News. A report by the new group says Europe has a strong opportunity to capture a big share of the global e-SAF market, which it estimates could be worth €250 billion ($270bn) by 2050 and create up to 90,000 direct jobs. But it argues that to do so will require investments between €15 billion and €25 billion by 2030, encouraged by supportive government policies. Globally, says the report, Europe has 26 of the 31 large-scale e-SAF projects currently proposed. “But while 70% of the global e-SAF project pipeline is located in Europe,” it adds, “no plant has yet reached final investment decision (FID).” We will be discussing e-SAF and Project SkyPower at our forthcoming Aviation Carbon 2024 conference in London, November 25/26 (Aviation Carbon Events) #sustainableaviation #sustainableaviationfuel #eSAF #eFuels #ProjectSkyPower https://lnkd.in/ei5MrbvM

Delighted to announce that the September issue of GreenAir News is now out, with a roundup of news from the past month on aviation's efforts to mitigate its climate and environmental impact. Lots of interesting stories from around the world, including major investments in US e-fuels startups Twelve, Infinium and AIR COMPANY; Formula 1 investment in sustainable aviation fuels through book-and-claim; British Airways investment in carbon removal credits through CUR8; Heart Aerospace's new hybrid-electric passenger aircraft demonstrator; and plenty more. As always, a special thanks to correspondent Tony Harrington. And a special mention of Aviation Carbon Events' Aviation Carbon 2024 conference in London on November 25/26, which GreenAir News co-organises. The Agenda is now out and there are special discounts available to GreenAir readers through the newsletter. If you are not yet a subscriber, do sign up - it's free - and have it delivered to your email box. This month's issue is available here: https://lnkd.in/e_nxBwbj