Govts should change priorities to boost SAF production

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has said that in 2024, SAF production volumes reached 1 1.3 billion liters, double the 0.5 million tonnes (600 million liters) produced in 2023.

SAF accounted for 0.3% of global jet fuel production and 11% of global renewable fuel.

Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General, said, “SAF volumes are increasing, but disappointingly slowly. Governments are sending mixed signals to oil companies that continue receiving subsidies for their exploration and production of fossil oil and gas. Investors in new-generation fuel producers seem to be waiting for guarantees of easy money before going full throttle. With airlines, the core of the value chain, earning just a 3.6% net margin, profitability expectations for SAF investors need to be slow and steady, not fast and furious. But make no mistake that airlines are eager to buy SAF and there is money to be made by investors and companies who see the long-term future of decarbonization. Governments can accelerate progress by winding down fossil fuel subsidies and replacing them with strategic production incentives and clear policies supporting a future built on renewable energies, including SAF,” he said

What is SAF

SAFs are liquid fuels currently used in commercial aviation, which can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 80%. It can be produced from several sources (feedstock) including waste fats, oils and greases, municipal solid waste, agricultural and forestry residues, wet wastes, as well as non-food crops cultivated on marginal land. They can also be produced synthetically via a process that captures carbon directly from the air.

SAFs can be considered ‘sustainable’, as their feedstocks do not compete with food crops or output, nor require incremental resource usages such as water or land clearing, and more broadly, do not promote environmental challenges such as deforestation, soil productivity loss, or biodiversity loss. Whereas fossil fuels add to the overall level of CO2 by emitting carbon that had been previously locked away, SAF recycles the CO2, which has been absorbed by the biomass used in the feedstock during its life.