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 Department of Energy (DOE). 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 announced conditional commitments to issue over $1.4 billion dollars in loan guarantees each to renewable fuels companies Montana Renewables and Gevo Net-Zero 1 to help finance their SAF production facilities.

Aviation represents 3.3% of total US GHG emissions and jet fuel consumption is forecasted to increase by 2-3% annually through to 2050, says DOE, with SAF “the only viable solution” to decarbonising the sector in the near-term. The SAF Grand Challenge, established in September 2021 by government and industry, set a target of three billion and 35 billion gallons of annual SAF production in 2030 and 2050 respectively, representing 10% and 100% of projected US jet fuel demand. Current US SAF production is around 2,000 barrels per day, or about 20 million gallons per year.

The ‘SAF Pathways to Commercial Liftoff’ report looks at the near-term potential for SAF and analyses the technical and commercial readiness of several SAF production pathways, highlighting what DOE describes as “the tangible, actionable steps that both the public and private sector can take to make the United States a global leader in SAF production as soon as 2030.” Part of the DOE’s Liftoff series, it looks at market challenges, investment needs and critical pathways for deploying sustainable solutions at scale.

In order to achieve “SAF liftoff” by 2030, the report acknowledges it will require accelerated deployment of production technologies and feedstocks that are now readily available. In parallel, investments in emerging SAF technologies, such as next-generation feedstocks and innovative SAF conversion technologies, are “essential” to ensure 100% of jet fuel can be sustainable by 2050, it says.

To help make SAF more cost competitive with fossil jet, federal and state incentives are playing a necessary role but the report finds that sustained price premiums have limited airlines’ voluntary offtake.

“Long-term offtake agreements will establish the demand certainty needed both to improve financing terms and stimulate investment across the SAF value chain,” says DOE. “Airlines and producers can extend terms or increase volumes by activating third-party offtakers that are willing to pay for the environmental attribute (carbon abatement) of this low-carbon fuel to reduce their Scope 3 emissions. This activation will require the incorporation of SAF in Scope 3 emissions standards.”

The report adds that SAF liftoff will require international policy coordination, including alignment on carbon accounting, feedstock traceability and book-and-claim systems.

“With the aviation sector growing each year, there is no better time to invest in solutions that are both technologically and commercially ready today,” commented US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. “The latest in DOE’s Liftoff series, this report lays out the critical innovations and investments needed to drive down costs and further scale SAF production – paving the way for a cleaner, more competitive aviation sector that will benefit communities and businesses nationwide.”

DOE will host a webinar on November 21 featuring its senior leaders, including Dr Vanessa Chan, Chief Commercialization Officer and Director of the US Department of Energy’s Office of Technology Transitions (OTT), to outline the findings of the report.

The two commitments announced by DOE’s Loan Programs Office last month included a $1.44 billion loan guarantee to Montana Renewables, which if finalised, will help finance the expansion of a renewable fuels facility in Great Falls, Montana, that will utilize vegetable oils, fats and greases to produce SAF, renewable diesel and renewable naphtha. The other is a $1.46 billion loan guarantee to Gevo Net-Zero 1, to help finance the first-of-a-kind, large-scale corn starch-to-jet fuel facility in the United States. Located in Lake Preston, South Dakota, this facility will source US-grown, low-cost, low-carbon field corn and will use carbon capture and sequestration and renewable power to lower emissions.

Photo (Delta): Shipments of camelina-derived SAF produced by Montana Renewables were delivered via pipeline in October to Delta’s hubs at Minneapolis-St Paul and Detroit Metropolitan airports

Further commitments have been announced by major airlines in Europe and the US for sustainable aviation fuel, collectively totalling around 550 million gallons. Air France-KLM has signed an MoU with its long-term fuel supplier TotalEnergies for up to 800,000 tonnes of SAF, or 264 million gallons, for its group of airlines, while low-cost European carrier Ryanair has partnered with Shell for another 360,000 tonnes, or 120 million gallons, and US operator JetBlue will take at least 92 million gallons of blended product from Fidelis New Energy. The three deals add to other significant offtake agreements this year by each of the airline groups as they ramp up their decarbonisation activities. Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic is to purchase 70 million gallons of SAF over seven years as part of a new agreement with joint venture partner Delta Air Lines. The fuel, which will be produced by Gevo, will be used on flights from the US West Coast.

The Air France-KLM agreement with TotalEnergies, a strategic partner since 2014, specifies the supply of 800,000 tonnes of SAF over 10 years, with deliveries commencing in 2023. The fuel will be used by Air France, KLM and Transavia largely for flights departing from French airports, in line with national SAF blending requirements, as well as from the Netherlands. The fuel will also comply with the airline group’s policy that any SAF it procures must not compete with human food or animal feed, that it not be derived from palm oil and that it be certified as compliant.

As of earlier this year, KLM flights from Amsterdam Schiphol have been operating with a minimum of 0.5% SAF in their jet fuel and the French government has introduced a 1% SAF mandate on flights from French airports, a level that is expected to rise to 2% in 2025 and 5% in 2030 in line with proposed EU regulation. Crop-based fuels have been excluded from use in the French mandate.

“Air France-KLM is fully committed to advancing SAF production in Europe and around the world,” said CEO Benjamin Smith. “This MoU with TotalEnergies is another building block to further the development of a French SAF industry that can meet the airlines’ needs. This therefore marks a fundamental milestone in the successful decarbonisation of our business. We are continuing to step up our efforts to reduce the impact of our operations as quickly as possible.” 

TotalEnergies is targeting 1.5 million tonnes of SAF production by 2030 using waste and residues including used cooking oil, animal fats and synthetic fuels. “This new partnership with Air France-KLM exemplifies the excellence of industry and French aerospace in committing to a more sustainable aviation sector,” said its CEO Patrick Pouyanné, adding biofuel development was a company priority. “By directly reducing the carbon intensity of the energy products used by our air transport customers, we are actively working with them to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, together with society.”

In recent initiatives, Air France-KLM group airlines have operated a range of flights using between 16% and 30% SAF sourced from TotalEnergies.

The latest SAF deal coincides with confirmation that under the group’s scope 1 and 3 emissions reduction targets, Air France Group and KLM have been assessed and validated under the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) as aligning with the ‘well-below 2 degrees Celsius’ objective determined as part of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate. The strategy is primarily centred on reducing direct and indirect CO2 emissions by 30% per passenger/km by 2030 compared to 2019.

In another European partnership, low-cost carrier Ryanair has signed an MoU with global energy company Shell for the supply of SAF to more than 200 airports across Europe, in particular the airline’s biggest bases in Dublin and London Stansted.

Through this deal, the airline expects to access up to 360,000 tonnes, or 120 million gallons, of SAF between 2025 and 2030, with the fuels produced via multiple technology pathways and using a range of sustainable feedstocks. It estimates that using this amount of SAF would reduce CO2 emissions from its flights by more than 900,000 tonnes, equivalent to the output of over 70,000 Dublin-Milan services.

“SAF plays a key role in our Pathway to Net Zero strategy, and also our commitment to a target of 12.5% SAF by 2030,” said Thomas Fowler, Ryanair’s Sustainability Director. The agreement with Shell would enable the airline to procure around 20% of the SAF needed to meet this target, he said, while progressing its aggressive growth strategy, which estimates that passenger volumes will reach 168 million in FY2023, en-route to a target of 225 million per year by FY2026. 

Jan Toschka, President of Shell Aviation, said their agreement demonstrated that both companies viewed SAF as the key to net zero aviation emissions. “It is fantastic to build on our existing relationship with Ryanair to now look at what we can achieve together on sustainability,” he said. “Leadership and bold actions are needed to accelerate the decarbonisation of flight.”

In the US, JetBlue and Fidelis New Energy (FNE) have signed an MoU on SAF, through which the airline will source at least 92 million gallons of blended product over a five-year term from 2025. The fuel will be designed to achieve negative lifecycle carbon intensity by integrating carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) and biomass energy with CCS (BECCS). The SAF will be produced at FNE’s Gron Fuels GigaSystem at the Port of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which the company estimates will produce 1 billion gallons per year of SAF, renewable diesel and other low carbon products. The new plant will also use waste process heat to generate power, producing biogas from by-products and using flexible processing methods to produce carbon-negative SAF from existing and emerging feedstocks.

Although JetBlue is already a regular user of SAF, it accounts for less than 1% of the airline’s total fuel usage. “We need significantly more supply to reach our 2040 net zero target,” said Sara Bogdan, JetBlue’s Director of Sustainability and ESG. “With partners like Fidelis and their carbon negative Gron Fuels Gigasystem, we are not only supplying our own growing SAF needs, we’re sending a powerful signal that significant demand for SAF exists. By introducing negative carbon intensity SAF to our network, we are also taking steps towards reaching true carbon neutrality as an airline.”

In addition to producing carbon negative SAF, Fidelis Co-founder and COO Bengt Jarlsjo said his company’s high-capacity carbon sink was expected to permanently sequester some 5 million tons of biogenic CO2 per year from the Louisiana facility.

JetBlue has also had a science-based, Paris-aligned climate target to reduce jet fuel emissions approved by the SBTi. The airline commits to reducing well-to-wake scope 1 and 3 GHG emissions by 50% per revenue tonne kilometre (RTK) by 2035 from a 2019 base year, with a goal of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2040, 10 years ahead of the sector’s target. The airline said SAF is expected to be the key contributor to large-scale lifecycle emissions reduction, although it is highly dependent on availability and costs of supply.

Virgin Atlantic Airways has announced a 70 million gallon commitment to SAF with its 49% shareholder Delta Air Lines, and to be produced by Gevo. The fuel will be supplied by Delta to Virgin Atlantic at a rate of 10 million US gallons per year over seven years at either Los Angeles or San Francisco airports. It will represent 20% of Virgin Atlantic’s commitment to 10% SAF use by 2030 and equate to around 500 trans-Atlantic flights from Los Angeles.

The parties have not disclosed a start date for deliveries of SAF, which will come from one of Gevo’s future production facilities. Gevo separates sugars and proteins from sustainably farmed non-edible industrial corn, with the sugars then used to produce SAF and the proteins fed to livestock, whose manure can then be processed to develop renewable natural gas and agricultural fertiliser.

“We know that SAF has a fundamental role to play in aviation decarbonisation,” said Holly Boyd Boland, VP Corporate Development at Virgin Atlantic. “The demand from airlines is clear and Virgin Atlantic is committed to supporting the scale up of SAF production at pace. We cannot meet our collective ambition of Net Zero 2050 without it.”

In March this year, Delta signed an agreement with Gevo valued at around $2.8 billion to purchase 75 million gallons per year over seven years, subject to Gevo developing, financing and constructing one or more production facilities to fulfil the quantity.

Image: Air France-KLM

American Airlines, Alaska Airlines and Lufthansa Group have each announced major new commitments to purchase sustainable aviation fuel, collectively exceeding 1.2 billion gallons. American, the world’s biggest airline group, has committed to buy 500 million gallons from biofuels producer Gevo over five years, commencing in 2026, and Alaska Airlines will source 185 million gallons of SAF from Gevo in a five-year commitment, also starting in 2026. American and Alaska are both members of the oneworld airline alliance, which last year agreed to a collective target of using 10% of combined fuel volumes by 2030, having been the first global alliance to announce a target of carbon neutrality by 2050 in September 2020. Lufthansa Group has announced a seven-year partnership with Shell to globally source 1.8 million metric tons (around 600 million gallons) between 2024 and 2030. The three deals represent the largest single commitments to SAF by each of the companies, reports Tony Harrington. Meanwhile, Lufthansa Group is now offering a new ‘Green Fare’ that already includes full CO2 compensation in the price.

The latest SAF agreement by American boosts its total low-carbon fuel commitments to over 620 million gallons. But it accounts for just 20% of what is needed to meet its 10% by 2030 goal, says the airline.  “The use of SAF is a cornerstone of our strategy to decarbonise air travel,” said Jill Blickstein, American’s VP Sustainability. “While this landmark investment represents meaningful action by American Airlines, driving progress at the scale and pace we need requires critical policy action in Washington and at the State level.”

Announcing its new SAF deal, fellow oneworld member Alaska Airlines, which has set an ambitious target of net zero emissions by 2040, also amped up pressure for greater policy support to increase the availability of affordable supplies of sustainable fuels. “SAF is the most immediate path we have towards decarbonisation of aviation, but we recognise there is significant work required ahead – including public policy action – to make SAF a viable, affordable option at scale,” said Diana Birkett Rakow, Alaska’s SVP Public Affairs and Sustainability.

In Europe, Lufthansa Group, a member of the rival Star Alliance, has signed an MoU with Shell International Petroleum to investigate the supply of SAF at airports around the world. Comprising Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings and Lufthansa Cargo, Lufthansa Group is the largest collective user of SAF in Europe, it claims. The company said its deal with Shell would be “one of the most significant commercial SAF co-operations in the aviation industry” and the biggest SAF commitment of either company to date. The MoU is also expected to progress Shell’s ambition to ensure SAF comprised 10% of its aviation fuel sales by 2030.

“The Lufthansa Group has been involved in SAF research for many years, has built up an extensive network of partnerships and is driving forward the introduction of sustainable next-generation aviation fuels in particular,” the company added. “Special focus is placed on the forward-looking power-to-liquid and sun-to-liquid technologies, which use renewable energies or thermal energy as energy carriers.”

By using SAF, customers can already fly carbon-neutral today, said the Group. Additionally, they can document their reduced CO2 emissions with audited certificates and have the CO2 savings credited to their individual CO2 balance.

Coinciding with its SAF offtake announcement, the Group announced that four of its members – Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines – had introduced a new range of ‘Green Fares’ that include “full CO2 compensation” in the price. The fares will be available for Economy and Business Class flights within Europe, initially for passengers travelling from Denmark, Sweden and Norway, and displayed alongside other fares types in online booking screens immediately after flight selection. The new fares also include the option of free rebooking, as well as extra status and award miles. From autumn, they will also be available through travel agencies in Scandinavia.

“The Lufthansa Group is the first international aviation group to offer its customers a separate ‘green fare’ for CO2-neutral flying with SAF,” it stated. Through the pilot project, 80% of carbon offsetting will be achieved through high-quality climate protection projects and 20% through the use of SAF, the company added. 

“We want to make CO2-neutral flying a matter of course in the future,” commented Christina Foerster, a member of Lufthansa Group’s Executive Board, responsible for brand and sustainability. “People don’t just want to fly and discover the world. They also want to protect it. We are driven by the need to support our customers with the right offers.”

Photo: Lufthansa

Alaska Airlines is partnering with Microsoft Corporation and carbon technology company Twelve to progress the development of power-to-liquid (PtL) fuels, through which carbon dioxide captured from the atmosphere is converted with renewable energy to create sustainable aviation fuel. The three companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will lead to the first commercial demonstration flight in the US using Twelve’s E-Jet low carbon fuel, followed by Alaska’s use of the fuel to part-power some of Microsoft’s business travel on the airline to help recompense its emissions. Alaska Airlines has committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2040, 10 years ahead of the airline industry’s generally-agreed commitment to 2050, and has purchased and promoted SAF for more than a decade, while Microsoft is also an investor in Twelve through the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund, reports Tony Harrington. Meanwhile, two European airlines, Aer Lingus and Aegean, have announced SAF deals.

Diana Birkett Rakow, SVP Public Affairs and Sustainability for Alaska Airlines, said the carrier’s commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2040 relied upon procuring SAF, including Twelve’s E-Jet product. “We are committed to making SAF more widely available, at an affordable price, helping bring new alternatives to market, and using these fuels in our operation, a path that requires public policy action and private partnerships like this one,” she said. “We’re excited to work with Twelve and Microsoft to advance Twelve’s E-Jet fuel, turning captured CO2 and renewable energy into fuel for our airplanes.”

The airline said that since 2010, it had worked with a range of public and private partners “to advance public policies needed to jumpstart the nascent SAF market, create new offtake agreements and cultivate partnerships to accelerate market development,” and was a founding member of the Aviators Group of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Buyers Alliance (SABA), which was announced at last year’s COP26 climate summit in Glasgow. Alaska Airlines has also participated in Boeing’s ecoDemonstrator programme to test 100% SAF in one engine of a Boeing 737 jet, partnered with SAF provider SkyNRG to progress development of fuel from recycled municipal waste and is a participant in two US-based SAF procurement deals by the oneworld alliance, of which it is a member. Beyond SAF, it has partnered with ZeroAvia to help develop a hybrid-electric powertrain for regional airliners.

Twelve’s E-Jet fuel is created through the use of an electrochemical reactor and a proprietary catalyst, which replicate the natural process of photosynthesis at industrial scale by electrifying CO2 and water to produce carbon neutral fuel. “By producing our drop-in E-Jet fuel from captured CO2 we can rapidly and efficiently close the carbon cycle and allow businesses to sustainably use emissions to power their own business travel,” said Nicholas Flanders, CEO and Co-founder of Twelve. “Partnering with progress-minded brands like Alaska Airlines and Microsoft adds thrust as we work towards delivering industrial-scale volumes of E-Jet.” The company said the fuel had already been tested and qualified by the US Air Force.

In March this year, the Canadian e-commerce group Shopify, which is also one of the largest corporate investors in long-term carbon removal, announced its Sustainability Fund had made the first purchase of Twelve’s E-Jet fuel. “Purchasing carbon removal from leading companies is critical to helping them scale, but purchasing from emerging companies pursuing novel approaches is equally essential,” said Stacy Kauk, Shopify’s Head of Sustainability. As well as helping to accelerate carbon removal solutions, she added, such investments also provided recipient businesses with a strong revenue stream and helped them to secure financing for their programmes.   

Elizabeth Willmott, Carbon Programme Director at Microsoft, said addressing emissions from hard-to-abate sectors such as aviation needed commitment from all stakeholders. “Building on our Climate Innovation Fund investment in Twelve and relationship with Alaska Airlines, this collaboration provides an opportunity to accelerate decarbonisation in the aviation industry by exploring how to use low carbon fuels produced by renewable electricity, like Twelve’s E-Jet.”

While Alaska Airlines expands its extensive SAF programme to include PtL, two European airlines, Aer Lingus and Aegean, have both announced new agreements to purchase SAF in line with their commitments to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Aer Lingus, a member of International Airlines Group (IAG), has just signed an agreement to purchase 19,000 tonnes per year of SAF for five years from US-based renewable fuels company Gevo, commencing in 2026. The fuel will be used by the airline to help power its flights from Los Angeles and San Francisco, and from 2026 will represent 50% of the fuel purchased by Aer Lingus in California.

IAG, which also includes British Airways, Iberia, Iberia Express, Vueling, Air Nostrum and LEVEL, has already committed to a target of net zero emissions by 2050, and to powering 10% of its flights with SAF by 2030. Aer Lingus said its deal with Gevo would provide enough SAF to cut lifecycle CO2 emissions by at least 180,000 tonnes, equivalent to 1,000 net zero CO2 flights with widebody Airbus A330 jets between Dublin and Los Angeles.

In Greece, Aegean has announced its first SAF deal, a partnership with Hellenic Petroleum to use a blended product to operate flights on domestic and international routes, beginning with departures from its hub at Thessaloniki Airport, to be followed soon after by services from Athens International Airport. Timing of the programmes was not revealed.

Photo: Alaska Airlines

The SkyTeam airline alliance has just completed its first Sustainable Flight Challenge, in which member airlines demonstrated or tested initiatives in the air and on the ground to help reduce their carbon emissions, with the results to be shared across the industry. The challenge, which required participants to maximise decarbonisation measures on specific flights between May 1 and 14, attracted 16 of the alliance’s 18 members, and delivered outcomes including services part-powered by large volumes of sustainable aviation fuel and weight-saving operational measures such as the use of new, lightweight aircraft tyres. The concept of the Sustainable Flight Challenge was developed by The Bold Moves, a group of employees within SkyTeam member airline KLM, who were inspired by a 1934 air race between London and Melbourne, designed to demonstrate the possibilities of long-range commercial flights. SkyTeam adopted the KLM idea and expanded it to encourage all its member airlines and partners to participate, reports Tony Harrington. Meanwhile, SkyTeam member Saudia has undertaken what it claims is the world’s longest net positive flight through a carbon offsetting partnership with CarbonClick and aviation consultancy SimpliFlying.

“The climate crisis is the greatest challenge facing our industry, and there’s no time to lose,” commented SkyTeam on the Sustainable Flight initiative. “As airlines, we need to reshape the future of air travel for generations to come. Together, we are committed to further reducing our carbon footprint by finding new ways to cut emissions, make our fleets more efficient and better care for the world we connect. We’re challenging ourselves to innovate, reaching for new heights to find as-yet undiscovered solutions that we can put into practice across our industry.”

As originator of the Sustainable Flight Challenge, KLM operated two flights from Amsterdam as part of the project, one a Boeing 787-10 widebody service to Edmonton, Canada, the other an Embraer E190 regional jet to Porto, Portugal, each incorporating more than 50 efficiency measures, including a 39% blend of sustainable aviation fuel. Weight-saving initiatives included the use of artificial intelligence modelling to predict the amount of water needed for each flight, lightweight cargo pallets and nets, and optimised aircraft loading to ensure the best centre of gravity, to improve flight aerodynamics and reduce fuel burn by 1.5-2%. Pilots also collaborated with air traffic controllers to identify the most efficient air routes, while on the ground, business class passengers were asked to pre-select meals in order to minimise uplift of catering which would not be used, while transport companies delivering freight were asked to use vehicles powered by electricity or biodiesel fuel.

Air France also operated two flights part-powered by SAF, and performed with new, more fuel-efficient jets – an Airbus A350 from Paris to Montreal, using a 16% SAF blend produced by TotalEnergies, and an Airbus A220 from Paris to Lisbon with a 30% SAF mix, both well above the mandatory 1% blend required on all flights from France, and aligned with the airline’s target of 30% less CO2 emissions per passenger kilometre by 2030, compared to 2019. The airline said both flights were also supported by initiatives including single-engine taxiing and optimised routes, each achieving CO2 reductions of close to 45% compared to routine services. It foreshadowed greater use of AI to optimise flight paths, and use of autonomous tractors to help decarbonise baggage transport at airports.

In the US, Delta Air Lines used a Boeing 737-900ER – the most fuel-efficient aircraft type in its fleet – to operate a sustainable flight from its Atlanta home base to Salt Lake City. The plane was part-powered by 400 gallons of SAF, provided by Gevo, and the largest volume of sustainable fuel uplifted on a flight from Atlanta. The aircraft was also equipped with new main landing gear tyres which reduced weight by 100 pounds (45kgs), while at both ends of the journey the flight was serviced by 100% electric ground equipment used to transport baggage and fuel. Delta has pledged that 25% of its ground service vehicle fleet will be electrically powered by the end of 2022, up from 20% now, and rising to 50% by the end of 2025. Other features of its sustainable flight included recyclable packaging for beverages and no disposable plastic.

Another SkyTeam member, Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia), as part of the Sustainable Flight Challenge, has claimed the world’s longest net positive flight through a carbon offsetting partnership with New Zealand-based CarbonClick and aviation consultancy SimpliFlying. The airline said 346 tonnes of carbon emissions were offset from a six-hour, Boeing 787-9 flight between Jeddah and Madrid. The flight also incorporated the first in-flight ‘sustainability lab’, in which passengers contributed suggestions on how to reduce the environmental impact of flying.  To offset the flight’s emissions, CarbonClick will apply the airline’s contributions to the generation of wind-powered electricity in India, enabling wind turbines to be powered for 26 days, and delivering sustainable electricity to communities in Bhuj, in the western state of Gujurat.

SkyTeam said the pressures presented by Covid-19 meant that not all of the alliance’s member airlines could participate in the inaugural Sustainable Flight Challenge but expressed confidence that more would join in future years, with outcomes shared not only across the alliance, but further afield. “The industry as a whole will benefit from the challenge,” said SkyTeam. “That’s because everything we learn we will share open source. It’s our commitment to finding new ways to reduce our industry’s footprint and bring the future of sustainable air travel forward. What’s more, we hope to broaden participation in years to come.”

Photo: KLM

Delta Air Lines has announced plans to acquire 525 million gallons (2 billion litres) of sustainable aviation fuel from Colorado-based renewable energy group Gevo, in a seven-year deal scheduled to start from mid-2026. The agreement will provide approximately 75 million gallons (280 million litres) of SAF per year for the term of the agreement, which Gevo said would supersede a 2019 commitment by Delta to buy 10 million gallons (39 million litres) per year. The expanded partnership would also progress the airline’s goal of operating 10% of its flights with SAF by the end of 2030, for which it said it would need a total of 400 million gallons (1.5 billion litres) per year – a substantial jump from last year’s purchases, with corporate partners, of more than 300,000 gallons (just over 1.1 billion litres). The world’s second-largest airline said the partnership with Gevo would significantly increase its access to SAF, while growing the market for alternative fuel, and used the occasion to urge greater effort by governments and industry to ensure sufficient and affordable supplies of SAF if the air transport sector was to meet its decarbonisation targets, reports Tony Harrington.

“SAF is our best opportunity today for meaningful reductions in emissions from air travel, but the market needs investment and engagement from all stakeholders,” said Pam Fletcher, Chief Sustainability Officer at Delta, mirroring industry concerns about the lack and cost of sustainable fuels. “From Federal policy that puts it financially on par with road-based fuels to broad corporate interest, all stakeholders need to drive forward access to SAF in order to expand the market and meet the needs of the industry.”

Gevo CEO Patrick Gruber said Delta recognised that “big change is needed” for the aviation industry to achieve its 2050 target of net zero emissions. “SAF production creates good-paying jobs in manufacturing, improves the environmental quality for all, and fosters rural economic opportunity for feedstocks and pathways,” he said. “With the right policies and incentives in place, we can unlock a future where sustainable aviation fuel is a viable climate solution that benefits air travel and beyond.”

Through two alcohol-to-jet processes, which can use low-carbon feedstocks produced using sustainable agriculture, Gevo can produce energy-dense liquid hydrocarbons including sustainable aviation fuels. “We expect production from our first net-zero plant to begin in 2025,” reported Gruber. “To meet the demand that we now have under contract, we need to develop and build more than one net-zero plant.”

The Delta-Gevo agreement comes just a day after the announcement of a deal between Gevo and six members of the oneworld airline alliance (see article), reflecting increasing commitment by major operators to using renewable aviation fuels. But the agreement also highlights growing concerns about limited supplies of affordable SAF, which IATA is relying upon to deliver 65% of airlines’ carbon emission reductions by 2050.

During the seven-year term of the new partnership between Delta and Gevo, major airframe and aero engine manufacturers expect to achieve regulatory certification which will enable flights to be operated with 100% SAF, double the amount currently permitted for commercial air transport. To operate its flights purely with SAF, Delta estimated it would need around 4 billion gallons (over 15 billion litres) per year.

Today, said the airline, “the market remains nascent due to limited supply and high costs. There is only enough SAF available on the market to support one day of Delta’s operations at pre-pandemic levels. But the industry needs this technology to grow and develop as it is the most meaningful solution to reducing aviation’s carbon emissions.”

In addition to its SAF purchases, Delta is a member of the First Movers Coalition, a public-private partnership led by the US State Department and World Economic Forum, to support and advance the development of new technologies and fuels to help reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of hard-to-abate industries including air transport. The airline said that through this and other like-minded collaborations, it promoted policy support and market incentives to help drive the SAF sector, including a SAF-specific blenders tax credit and “a robust SAF grant programme”.

Photo: Delta Air Lines

Three significant new agreements have been announced to collectively deliver more than 1.5 billion litres of sustainable aviation fuel to seven airline operators, reports Tony Harrington. German-based freight airline DHL Express has agreed to acquire more than 800 million litres of SAF within the next five years through two agreements, one with oil company bp and the other with wastes-to-fuel producer Neste. The carrier described the combined SAF deals as one of the largest in aviation to date. In a simultaneous development, the oneworld airline alliance has announced the intention of six of its 14-member airlines to jointly acquire almost the same amount – up to 200 million gallons, or around 750 million litres – of SAF from US-based renewable fuels provider Gevo for use in key Californian airports from 2027. And in the UK, the Saudi Arabian industrial group Alfanar has announced a £1 billion ($1.3bn) investment in a new waste-to-energy project to produce up to 180 million litres of SAF per year.   

DHL Express said the bp and Neste deals would provide SAF from both suppliers until 2026, sufficient to sustainably fuel 1,000 Boeing 777 freight flights per year for 12 years, between Leipzig, Germany, and Cincinnati, USA, and cutting CO2 emissions on a lifecycle basis equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions of 400,000 passenger cars. Together with a previous commitment to introduce SAF to its operations in San Francisco, Amsterdam and East Midlands, UK, the latest agreements by DHL Express will exceed 50% of its target to achieve 10% SAF blending for all of its air transport by 2026.

“Using SAF is currently one of the aviation industry’s key routes to reducing CO2 emissions over the aviation fuel lifecycle with currently-available aircraft types,” said Frank Appel, CEO of Deutsche Post DHL Group, which has committed to using 30% SAF blending for all of its air transport by 2030.  DHL Express CEO John Pearson highlighted continuing concerns in the aviation industry about the global shortage of SAF. “Our key focus is to inspire more SAF suppliers to address the current supply gap,” he said. “At the same time, we are calling on policy-makers to set the right framework to accelerate market ramp-up of SAF in the EU and worldwide, including an accounting mechanism that allows flexible SAF purchases and usage.”  

Air bp SVP Martin Thomsen said the company was intensifying its partnerships with airports and airlines to help them decarbonise. “As bp transitions to an integrated energy company, we are leveraging our value chain encompassing feedstocks, global production, logistics and airport infrastructure,” he reported. “We are promoting SAF at pace to support global aviation to realise its lower carbon emissions.”

Peter Vanacker, CEO of Finland-based Neste, added: “This milestone agreement, our largest ever for SAF, underlines the growing need and urgency – as well as the commitment – to act on aviation-related emissions. SAF is a cornerstone of the aviation industry’s efforts to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. It requires a joint effort across the aviation value chain with all stakeholders, using all available raw materials and solutions, to reach that goal.”

In the US, the oneworld airline alliance has announced a plan for six of its members – Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, Japan Airlines and Qatar Airways – to collectively acquire up to 200 million gallons of SAF per year at a range of airports in California, for five years from 2027. The fuel will be sourced from Colorado-based renewable fuels producer Gevo and made from inedible corn products, processed to create ethanol, then converted to SAF. The RSB-certified fuel will be supplied to airports including Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and San Jose from three new facilities under development in the US Midwest.

The Gevo deal is the second to be announced by oneworld within five months. Last November, the alliance revealed a joint commitment by most of its member airlines to purchase more than 350 million gallons (1.34 billion litres) of blended sustainable aviation fuel from another supplier, Aemetis, for uplift from San Francisco.

The Chairman of oneworld, Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker, said the latest deal “reaffirms the leadership of our alliance in supporting the ambitious aviation decarbonisation targets, as well as our active role in driving the use of ICAO-recognised SAF at a commercial scale.” Rob Gurney, CEO of oneworld, added: “Five months ago, we committed as an alliance to a target of 10% sustainable aviation fuel by 2030. A second major sustainable aviation fuel offtake among member airlines builds further upon that commitment, while demonstrating the value that can be delivered when our member airlines work together.”

Gevo said it had developed two alcohol-to-jet methods which would use a variety of feedstocks produced using sustainable farming and renewable agricultural techniques. The company said its production processes would incorporate renewable energy from sources including wind turbines, biogas and combined heat and power systems (CHP) to boost efficiency and cut carbon intensity to net zero.  “When oneworld member airlines show they understand the importance of reducing fossil-carbon greenhouse gas emissions, they start making real change in the industry,” said Gevo CEO Dr Patrick Gruber.   

In yet another development, the Saudi Arabian industrial group Alfanar is to invest £1 billion in delivering the UK’s first commercial-scale production plant for sustainable aviation fuel. The Lighthouse Green Fuels project in the Tees Valley, north-east England, is expected to produce up to 180 million litres of SAF per year from converted British domestic and commercial waste. It will do so through a waste-to-liquid process which uses gasification and Fischer-Tropsch technology to convert refuse which otherwise would be incinerated or used as landfill.

The project follows a £2.4 million award to Alfanar last year as part of the UK government’s ‘Green Fuels, Green Skies’ competition to support domestic SAF production. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the Alfanar investment during a visit to the Arabian Gulf, where he met with the leaders of both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to discuss increased oil procurement to replace supplies previously sourced from Russia.

The Lighthouse Green Fuels project also complements the establishment in Teesside of the UK’s first Hydrogen Transport Hub, a partnership with Teesside University to create an innovation centre focused on clean energy research, development and testing for all modes of transport. Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said the Saudi SAF development, in addition to creating 700 construction jobs and another 240 positions once the plant was operational, “further cements our region as the global go-to place to develop ground-breaking green energy technology.”

It is also aligned with the region’s ambitions for Teesside Airport to become “the UK’s first hydrogen-ready airport, and an early adopter of these sustainable aviation fuels,” he said. A hydrogen refuelling station has already been established at the airport as part of a trial across the region, and a number of organisations are testing hydrogen-powered commercial and support vehicles, with more to be introduced.

Image: DHL Express

The recent virtual symposium hosted in the US by CAAFI, the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative, illustrated the increasing momentum in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) commercial development, with companies at different stages of development outlining ambitious plans for multiple facilities over the coming years. Many facilities are already under construction or nearing completion, and the increased availability of SAF is expected to become a reality over the next few years. Significantly, many producers are pursuing net zero SAF from initial construction by integrating technologies such as renewable energy, green hydrogen and carbon capture and storage into their fuel production strategy, reports Susan van Dyk. By incorporating net zero targets as part of the initial engineering design of a facility, any SAF pathway can potentially be net zero if the right policies are in place to incentivise the greatest emission reductions.

Gevo’s first fully net zero project is planned for its Lake Preston, South Dakota, facility and across its entire feedstock supply chain, CEO Pat Gruber told the symposium. Onsite electricity used in the facility will be derived from biogas, offsite electricity from wind turbines and renewable hydrogen. As Gevo uses corn for the production of isobutanol, the feedstock supply chain is addressed explicitly through better agricultural practices and land management, improved tillage practices and sustainable fertiliser. Gevo works closely with farmers and plans to reward them according to the sustainability of their corn, according to Gruber. Adds the company: “Gevo designs our entire business with carbon value in mind from the beginning, and carbon value has an impact on everything we do. By focusing on carbon value, Gevo is set up to maximise the value of renewable energy sources. When we aim towards that goal, everything we do in developing our plans, building our facilities, working with airlines, fuel companies, farmers and other partners, becomes focused on sustainability.”

Other companies pursuing a holistic approach to net zero SAF are Velocys, Aemetis, Red Rock Biofuels, and SkyNRG Americas. The Velocys Bayou Fuels project, according to Jeff McDaniel, VP New Projects, can achieve a negative -144 gCO2/MJ carbon intensity based on the production of the facility’s electricity with solar power and further use of carbon capture and sequestration for emissions from the facility, to achieve a significant reduction in carbon intensity.

Eric McAfee, CEO of Aemetis, told the CAAFI symposium the company’s strategy for net-zero includes renewable natural gas, cellulosic hydrogen, and carbon capture and storage. The proposed facility of SkyNRG Americas aims for maximum emission reductions by producing hydrogen from electrolysis, stated CEO John Plaza, while Red Rock Biofuels is implementing engineering changes to its Lakeview facility to lower the carbon intensity of the fuels. According to CEO Terry Kulesa, the Lakeview facility will use solar power for electricity and undertake carbon capture of any emissions.

The ability of SAF to reduce emissions, reflected in the carbon intensity (CI) of the specific fuel, is a central characteristic of its environmental benefits and sustainability, and based on a life cycle assessment across the entire supply chain of the fuel production process. Under CORSIA, eligible fuels are given default CI values, termed life cycle emission factors (LSf), based on the type of technology and feedstock used, although CORSIA provides a methodology to determine the unique LSf of a SAF pathway. The default LSf under CORSIA for isobutanol-to-jet based on a corn feedstock (similar to the Gevo pathway), is 77 gCO2eq/MJ compared to conventional jet fuel of 89 gCO2eq/MJ. However, the actual calculated value for Gevo fuel is -5 gCO2/MJ, according to Gruber.  

If any type of SAF can deliver net zero, all technologies can potentially be used to meet net zero targets for the aviation sector to 2050. Proponents of synthetic e-fuels, such as Andrew Murphy from Transport and Environment, argue that power-to-liquid (PtL) fuels should be the main SAF technology in the long term as it is the only pathway that can achieve net zero. In contrast, Andreea Moyes, Global Aviation Sustainability Director at BP in a presentation at the CAAFI Symposium, argues “multiple SAF pathways are required, and all should be allowed to compete on their own merits within societal preference.” According to Moyes, the GHG profile of SAF, rather than the volume, should be the focus.

An important driver for aggressive targeting of maximum emissions reductions is placing a value on carbon. This type of policy is already in action in California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard and has created a strong incentive for low carbon intensity fuels. The proposed Sustainable Skies Act, recently introduced in the US House of Representatives by Congressman Brad Schneider, creates exactly this type of policy in the aviation sector (see article). The Act proposes a blenders tax credit of $1.50 per gallon of SAF that provides a 50% reduction in emissions. SAF that provides greater emission reductions can earn an additional credit of $0.01 per gallon for each percentage the fuel reduces emissions over 50% up to a maximum of $2 per gallon for a 100% reduction, in order to incentivise greater reductions in emissions.

In contrast, the European ReFuelEU Aviation policy proposes a volumetric blending mandate which is not directly linked to emission reductions (see article). Although this will create a strong demand signal, it seems unlikely to drive aggressive carbon reductions of SAFs. Bryan Stonehouse, General Manager Aviation Sustainability & Risk at Shell Aviation, speaking at the recent IATA SAF Symposium, explained the role of policy for driving investment in SAF and contrasted the blenders tax credit with the ReFuelEU mandate. According to Stonehouse, the mandate is important for creating a demand but does not give the whole picture. The blenders tax credit will be the carrot for the industry, he said. According to Stonehouse, SAF is incredibly expensive and needs affordability support and argued the SAF industry needs aspects of both the ReFuelEU and the US blenders tax credit for development and scale-up.

While carbon intensity is only one component of sustainability, achieving net zero carbon intensities of SAF pathways should be a critical focus in the sector. Several US companies are engineering new facilities with a goal of achieving net-zero carbon intensity of fuels, and this seems to be driven by policies in the US that incentivise greater reductions. Designing and engineering a facility from the get-go to produce net zero fuels makes sense, and the right policies are crucial at this critical stage of investment and scale-up. While multiple policies are needed, rewarding carbon intensity reductions should play a central role in policymaking.

Photo courtesy of Alaska Airlines and Gevo

Susan van Dyk

GreenAir Correspondent

www.svdconsulting.ca

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In March 2020, Delta Air Lines announced it was committing $1 billion over 10 years towards a goal of becoming the first major carbon-neutral airline. A year on, the US airline has expanded its vision of ‘zero-impact aviation’ in which air travel does not damage the environment directly or indirectly via GHG emissions, noise, waste generation or other environmental impacts. Delta has offset its growth in carbon emissions since 2012 and says it is budgeting to spend more than $30 million on a portfolio of verified offsets to mitigate 13 million tonnes of its emissions between March and December 2020. It is also addressing emission reductions through fleet and operational efficiencies and last year retired more than 200 older aircraft. Longer term, Delta indicates it will invest in the acceleration of new technologies including sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), carbon capture and storage, and innovations in aircraft propulsion. It has also just signed an agreement with Deloitte to support the firm’s commitment to more sustainable business travel through the purchase of SAF. The world’s largest cargo airline, FedEx, is now planning to achieve carbon-neutral operations globally by 2040 and said it would help fund research into natural carbon sequestration solutions.

“Connecting the world and protecting our environment for future generations cannot be mutually exclusive,” said Delta CEO Ed Bastian. “Travellers should not have to choose between seeing the world and saving the world. We must continue to take immediate actions today and can’t wait for future solutions to become a reality. While there are many paths to carbon neutrality, Delta chose to make an impact today and invest in a future where aviation itself becomes cleaner for the world around us.”

Delta says its environmental sustainability plan is focused on three areas: carbon reduction and removal, stakeholder engagement and coalition building.

It reports the new aircraft entering the fleet contributed to fuel efficiency per available seat mile increasing by nearly 6% in 2020 over the previous year, amid the impact of Covid-19 and reduced passenger loads, saving 117 million gallons of fuel. The airline sees long-term potential for further emission reductions in future aircraft technology innovations such as propulsion, post-combustion emission controls, electric power delivery and fuel cells. These are still in the early stages of developments, says Delta, and are not expected to enter service “anytime soon” but reported it was evaluating partnerships to accelerate and support their advancement.

To achieve further carbon reduction advances in steps towards Delta’s ‘zero-impact’ goal for aviation, the airline says SAF shows great promise and has a medium-term target to replace 10% of its fossil jet fuel replace with a sustainable alternative by 2030.

It has agreements in place with Gevo to purchase 10 million gallons of SAF beginning in 2024 and 60 million gallons from Northwest Advanced Bio-Fuels starting in 2025. Combined, this represents a projected 1.7% of Delta’s total annual fuel consumption, adjusted for 2019 flying levels.

Just now though, says Delta, SAF is not available on a large enough scale and the market is so underdeveloped that all the SAF produced in 2020 would only power Delta’s fleet for one day pre-Covid.

In the near-term, Delta will rely on verified carbon offsets to achieve carbon neutrality. “As Delta invests in future technologies, carbon offsets are a viable, proven and immediate way to make an impact today,” said Sue Kolloru, VP Strategic Corporate Initiatives. “Our offset projects are making a measurable and meaningful difference by protecting forests, conserving wildlife and helping communities develop around the world.”

The 13 million tonnes of CO2 emissions Delta expects to offset from 2020 is equal to the carbon sequestered by 17 million acres (6.9 million ha) of US forests in one year, claims the airline. Two projects in Delta’s offset portfolio are Rimba Raya and Keo Seima, which protect forests through a community-driven conservation model involving local communities in Indonesia and Cambodia. The goal is for the portfolio to cover a range of projects covering carbon avoidance (deforestation), carbon reduction (wind and solar) and carbon removal (nature-based solutions such as afforestation and reforestation).

In the future, foresees Jerry Griffin, General Manager, Sustainability Strategy, carbon offset markets might include new carbon sequestration technologies like direct air capture where machines draw CO2 out of the air and store it in deep geological formations or use it to create products. “As part of our path to carbon removal, we will invest in these types of breakthrough projects to accelerate development, which is currently limited and very expensive,” he said.  

The second focus of Delta’s environmental sustainability plan involves engagement with investors, customers and employees. Delta points to its recent agreements with corporate customers Nike and Deloitte to purchase SAF facilitated by the airline in support of the two company’s commitment to sustainable business travel. The SAF will be supplied to Delta by Finnish renewable jet fuel producer Neste. The agreement with Deloitte represents a lifecycle CO2 emissions reduction of around 1,000 tonnes.

“Collaborations like this further support SAF development and represent the growing demand for innovations in clean fuel technologies,” commented Delta.

Deloitte has also just signed a similar SAF agreement with American Airlines, again to be supplied by Neste (see article).

The final thread of the Delta plan is to build coalitions with suppliers and other industry participants to drive down costs and increase the take-up of new technologies such as alternative fuels and carbon capture technology.

“This is not a competition,” said Bastian. “Uniting across industries to create a more sustainable future is imperative. The more that join us on this mission, the better.”

The airline expects to announce “multiple” partnerships within the next few months. It has already become a member of MIT’s Industry Liaison Program in order to understand and quantify aviation’s environmental impacts and inform a long-term plan to support industry innovation.

“Delta’s thoughtful approach to understanding the research ecosystem will help support research and development for the industry,” said Steven Barrett, Head of MIT’s Laboratory for Aviation and the Environment. “Developing coalitions to bring together leaders across industries is crucial in advancing a zero-impact future.”

FedEx, meanwhile, has pledged $2 billion in initial investment towards its new goal of carbon-neutral operations by 2040. The funding will major on three areas: vehicle electrification, sustainable energy and carbon sequestration. It includes a $100 million gift to Yale University to help establish the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture, with an initial focus on helping to offset GHG emissions equivalent to current airline emissions.

The Center’s researchers will develop methods that build on natural carbon storage systems, including biological ecosystems and the geological carbon cycle, with the aim of creating a portfolio of carbon removal strategies that can have an impact on a global scale. Following its aviation work, the Center will broaden its scope to address additional global sources of emissions and pledges to share its findings so that businesses, industries and governments can benefit from work that will accelerate the adoption and implementation of natural carbon capture strategies around the world.

“Addressing climate change is a complex challenge that demands urgent action, and natural carbon capture strategies will be one key part of that action,” said Dr Indy Burke, Dean of the Yale School of the Environment. “Through the creation of the Center, we aim to develop measurable carbon capture strategies to help offset carbon emissions globally.”

FedEx said it would continue to invest in alternative fuels to reduce aircraft and vehicle emissions. In 2015, FedEx agreed to purchase 3 million gallons of SAF from Red Rock Biofuels’ new biorefinery in Lakeview, Oregon, that was originally planned to open in 2017 but is now scheduled for completion this year. FedEx’s fuel conservation programme Fuel Sense and its aircraft modernisation programme have saved a combined 1.43 billion gallons of jet fuel and avoided over 13.5 million tonnes of CO2 emissions since 2012. “We have a responsibility to take bold action in addressing climate challenges,” said FedEx CEO Fred Smith, commenting on the new carbon-neutral pledge. “This goal builds on our longstanding commitment to sustainability throughout our operations, while at the same time investing in long-term transformational solutions for FedEx and our entire industry.”

Photo: Delta Air Lines