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New Energy World™
New Energy World™ embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low-carbon technologies.
SAF’s flight path to aviation decarbonisation
31/7/2024
News
The aviation sector accounts for about 2% of global energy-related CO2 emissions and requires significant transformation in a bid to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) will play an important role if the industry is to achieve its net zero by 2050 target, although currently making up less than 1% of global aviation fuel supply. However, a number of new developments have been reported that aim to increase SAF production.
Airlines and partners establish new SAF financing fund
A consortium of Airbus, the Air France-KLM Group, Associated Energy Group, LLC, BNP Paribas, Burnham Sterling, Mitsubishi HC Capital and Qantas Airways have co-invested in a SAF financing fund to accelerate global production of SAF.
The seven partners have committed to invest some $200mn in the new Sustainable Aviation Fuel Financing Alliance (SAFFA). The fund will focus mainly on technologically mature SAF-producing projects using, for instance, waste-based feedstocks. Investments will be diversified across various SAF production pathways and also by region.
Each partner will be able to enter into priority contracts to secure SAF offtakes from the various projects SAFFA will invest in. The fund will be centred on SAF that is eligible for RefuelEU Aviation or CORSIA (Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation) certification.
SAFFA has made its first investment in Crysalis Biosciences, a US tech company focused on developing innovative fuel and chemical production technologies. The company recently acquired and renovated the Monarch facility, an ethanol plant located in Sauget, Illinois, with a view to producing low-carbon intensity SAF and biochemicals.
Airbus invests in different SAF feedstocks and pathways
With SAF set to play a key role in meeting the aviation industry’s net zero by 2050 goal, the rapid scaling of supply and production using different feedstocks and pathways is critical, says Airbus. To help meet this demand, the company is investing in LanzaJet, a US sustainable fuels technology company and producer. LanzaJet is currently working on what it claims will be the world’s first commercial-scale production of ethanol-to-SAF at its Freedom Pines fuels plant in the US.
Based on the alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) pathway, LanzJet reports that its SAF reduces GHG emissions by more than 70% compared to fossil fuels through its lifecycle. ATJ is a three-step catalytic conversion of alcohol to jet fuel, where the alcohol is dehydrated into alkene, then oligomerised into long-chain hydrocarbons before hydrogenation to jet fuel.
Airbus also recently unveiled plans to collaborate with HIF Global to advance the global development of e-SAF via the methanol to jet fuel (MTJ) pathway, which produces SAF by synthesising methanol from CO2 and hydrogen. To produce e-SAF, the MTJ process uses recycled CO2 and green hydrogen produced with renewable electricity.
In May 2023, HIF Global announced agreements with Johnson Matthey and Honeywell UOP to conduct preliminary engineering for HIF’s first SAF facility in the US.
Boeing invests in sewage-derived SAF
Meanwhile, Boeing, investment company Clear Sky and SAF developer Firefly have announced a partnership to finance and support the conversion of sewage-based biofuels into SAF.
Firefly’s sewage processing method used hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) to turn sewage into crude oil and biochar, employing a combination of high pressure and heat at lower energy levels. The crude oil is processed into SAF, while the leftover biochar can be used for carbon sequestration in construction or as a soil improver in agriculture. Firefly claims its SAF emits 92% fewer GHGs over its lifetime compared to fossil fuels.
Neste expands SAF fuel supply in central and eastern US
In other news, Neste has expanded the availability of SAF in the US, with the commissioning of terminal capacity at ONEOK’s facility in Houston, Texas.
The new capacity at ONEOK’s terminal provides Neste with storage and blending capacity of up to 100,000 tonnes of Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel and is directly connected to the energy pipeline infrastructure in the eastern part of the US. In September 2023, the company commissioned terminal capacity in Los Angeles, California, expanding its ability to supply SAF to customers on the West Coast.
Neste’s MY SAF is made from sustainably sourced, 100% renewable waste and residue raw materials, such as used cooking oil and animal fat waste, that is blended with conventional jet fuel before use. An approved drop-in fuel compatible with existing aircraft engines and fuelling infrastructure, Neste claims its SAF reduces GHG emissions by up to 80%* over the fuel’s life cycle, compared to using conventional jet fuel.
*When used in neat (unblended) form and calculated with established life cycle assessment (LCA) methodologies, such as CORSIA methodology.
ONEOK Galena Park terminal in Houston, Texas, US, where Neste can store up to 100,000 tonnes of its SAF
Photo: ONEOK
Growth forecast for US SAF production capacity
Meanwhile, the US Energy Information Administration forecasts that production capacity of SAF in the country could increase from around 2,000 b/d to nearly 30,000 b/d in 2024 if all announced capacity additions come online. Developers expect Phillips 66’s Rodeo Renewed project to produce up to 10,000 b/d of SAF beginning this summer, and Diamond Green Diesel’s Port Arthur SAF project to produce about 15,000 b/d by the end of the year.
The EIA reports that investments in SAF have increased due to the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), federal tax credits and state programmes and tax credits incentivising use of the fuel. The White House has also set a goal of meeting 100% of US aviation fuel demand with SAF by 2050.
About 1.6mn b/d of petroleum jet fuel was consumed in the US in 2023, according to the EIA, which projects US jet fuel demand in 2050 to exceed 2mn b/d in its 2023 Annual Energy Outlook.
UK government backs SAF
Elsewhere, the UK government reports that, subject to Parliamentary approval, it will introduce a SAF mandate that will start from 1 January 2025.
Claiming it will be one of the first countries in the world to legislate in this way, the mandate is expected to drive demand for SAF in the UK, deliver emission reductions up to 2.7mn tCO2e in 2030 and up to 6.3mn tCO2e in 2040.
The SAF mandate will start in 2025 at 2% of total UK jet fuel demand, increasing on a linear basis to 10% in 2030 and then to 22% in 2040. From 2040, the obligation will remain at 22% until there is greater certainty regarding SAF supply, says the government.
The mandate will encourage the innovation of advanced fuels that can generate greater emission reductions and the diversification of feedstocks to reduce dependencies on scarce resources, by including in the mandate:
- A cap on the feedstocks used in the hydro-processed esters and fatty acids (HEFA) process, but not until other types of SAF are also commercially viable to recognise the important part that HEFA SAF will play in the 2020s. HEFA supply will not be limited under the mandate for the first two years, falling to 71% in 2030 and 35% in 2040.
- A separate obligation on power-to-liquid fuels from 2028 that reaches 3.5% of total jet fuel demand in 2040.
EI aviation resources
The EI’s Aviation Committee maintains a portfolio of over 50 resources on fuel handling to help control aviation fuel quality and its safe and efficient deployment for more than 100,000/day commercial flights worldwide (see the full listing at the EI’s Aviation Fuel Collection).
