A slew of new sustainable aviation fuel initiatives have been announced in the US, including major supplies for United Airlines and JetBlue at their respective hubs in Chicago and New York, Airbus investing in emerging SAF producer LanzaJet and UK start-up Firefly Green Fuels partnering with US biosolids feedstock provider Synagro Technologies to produce low carbon fuel in North America. United will receive up to 1 million gallons (3,000 tonnes) of SAF during 2024 from Finland’s Neste, which has just commissioned a new terminal facility in Houston, Texas, while JetBlue will take at least 1 million gallons from World Fuel Services, potentially by the fourth quarter of this year. European aircraft manufacturer Airbus, meanwhile, has joined a list of big-name investors in LanzaJet, which recently activated the world’s first ethanol-to-SAF facility, Freedom Pines Fuels in Georgia.

By signing for SAF from Neste’s newly-commissioned SAF terminal capacity at ONEOK’s Galena Park Terminal facility in Houston, Texas, United, the world’s third biggest airline, will become the first carrier to buy SAF to power regular commercial flights from Chicago O’Hare, the third busiest airport in the US.

The new capacity at ONEOK’s terminal provides Neste with storage capacity of up to 100,000 tons (around 33.5 million gallons) and is directly connected to the energy pipeline infrastructure in the eastern part of the US. The SAF is expected to be piped to Chicago from August, expanding the availability of Neste’s product to airlines operating from east of the Rocky Mountains to the East Coast.

The deal has been underpinned by the Illinois SAF Purchase Credit, introduced last year for every gallon of the fuel sold to or used by an airline in the state.

“This is what happens when innovation, leadership and policy come together,” said United President Brett Hart, who praised the Illinois Legislature and State Governor JB Pritzker for introducing the incentives which powered the SAF deal at Chicago O’Hare. “While the market for SAF is still in its infancy, there is a huge opportunity today for airlines and policymakers to work together to support its continued growth.”

Alexander Kueper, Neste’s VP, Renewable Aviation Business, said the deal expanded an existing partnership with United, which has already procured Neste SAF in San Francisco and at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. “We are excited to expand our partnership with United and see our SAF being used at one of the major airports in the US,” he said. “It underlines our commitment to supporting the US aviation industry in its efforts to decarbonise and shows the important role that policy supports like the federal SAF 40B credit and the Illinois SAF Purchase Credit play in accelerating SAF usage.”

JetBlue, too, is ramping up its SAF use, signing with US-based World Fuel Services to provide the first regular supply of blended SAF to New York’s John F Kennedy Airport, pumped in via existing infrastructure including the Colonial Pipeline, America’s largest pipeline system for refined fuel products.

Neat SAF produced by Diamond Green Diesel will be blended with conventional jet fuel by Valero Marketing and Supply Company, then delivered to World Fuel. The airline will acquire at least 1 million gallons of neat SAF, equivalent to 3.3 million gallons of blended fuel, potentially as early as the fourth quarter of this year. It will also have an option to procure up to 4 million gallons more (about 13.3 million gallons blended), though the timeline for the additional fuel was not disclosed.

“This newly available SAF in our hometown is a key signal of the growing engagement by major fuel producers and the potential of SAF to meaningfully address aviation’s carbon emissions,” said Sara Bogdan, the airline’s Managing Director of sustainability and environmental social governance. “By leveraging Valero’s globally recognised expertise in energy markets and logistics, and by utilising existing jet fuel distribution infrastructure, this new, large-scale supply of SAF is set to be a pivotal moment as the industry grows the use of SAF.”

Brad Hurwitz, World Fuel’s SVP, Supply and Trading, welcomed the JetBlue deal to bring SAF to JFK Airport, strengthening the energy company’s ambition to develop a consistent flow of the fuel to the US east coast.

“Today, as a result of state-level programmes incentivising the use of renewable fuels, the majority of domestically supplied blended SAF is delivered into west coast airports,” he said. “Engagement across public and private sectors is needed to expand the supply of SAF to more cities and grow the economies of scale.”

Aircraft manufacturer Airbus has become the latest investor to support US-based SAF producer LanzaJet, strengthening that company’s plans to produce the fuel not only in America but in multiple other markets. To scale its alcohol-to-jet fuel technology, LanzaJet is involved in projects in 25 countries across five continents.

By participating in LanzaJet’s s latest growth equity funding round, Airbus joined a high-profile list of investors and funders including All Nippon Airways, British Airways, Southwest Airlines, French airports company Groupe ADP, Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund, sustainable finance group Breakthrough Energy, Shell, Suncor Energy and Japan’s Mitsui & Co and MUFG Bank.

“Sustainable aviation fuels are one of the most important levers available to decarbonise aviation, but their production is still limited,” said Julie Kitcher, Chief Sustainability Officer at Airbus, echoing a consistent and increasing concern in the aviation sector. “Our partnership with LanzaJet demonstrates Airbus ’commitment to work with leading energy technology suppliers to explore innovative production pathways and scale SAF.

“This important partnership with LanzaJet underlines the importance of new technologies and cross-sector collaboration to achieve net zero CO2 emissions by 2050.”

The renewable fuel company uses low-carbon ethanol to create SAF, a process it says will reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by more than 70% compared to conventional fossil-based jet fuels.  

“LanzaJet intentionally developed a diverse portfolio of strategic investors consisting of leading global companies to ensure we have the ecosystem to scale the SAF industry,” said CEO Jimmy Samartzis. “This important investment from Airbus supports the growth of our company, enabling LanzaJet to scale the production and deployment of SAF to continue working towards meeting aviation’s decarbonisation goals and developing a more sustainable industry.”

LanzaJet is involved in developing a SAF production project – Project Speedbird – in the UK in partnership with British Airways and Nova Pangaea Technologies. In the reverse direction, UK-based start-up Firefly Green Fuels, whose technology converts sewage sludge into high performance fuels including SAF, has announced that Baltimore-headquartered Synagro will be the exclusive supplier of biosolid content in the American market.

Firefly uses as process called hydrothermal liquefaction to chemically transform biosolid waste into biocrude and biochar, the former upgraded to SAF and the remainder to other uses including fertiliser. It recently secured investment funding from a partnership of Boeing and sustainable investment group Clear Sky. 

“This is a perfect partnership with monumental implications,” said Synagro’s CEO, Bob Preston. “We’re pairing Synagro’s expertise in sustainable solutions for biosolids with Firefly’s SAF technology to evolve the circular economy.”  

James Hygate, CEO of Firefly Green Fuels, said there was a huge requirement for SAF in North America, the world’s biggest combined air transport market. “By working together, we can bring operations online quickly, creating new jobs and vast volumes of truly sustainable fuel.”

Photo: United will become the first carrier to power regular commercial flights from Chicago O’Hare with SAF

Tony Harrington

Correspondent

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Shell Aviation has announced three new sustainable aviation fuel airline agreements, two with US carriers JetBlue and Alaska Airlines for operations from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), the other with Air Greenland for flights between the Danish capital, Copenhagen, and Greenland’s major airport, Søndre Strømfjord/Kangerlussuaq. In the JetBlue deal, Shell will supply 10 million gallons of blended SAF to the airline at LAX during the next two years, with an option for another 5 million gallons the following year at that airport or others. Alaska will also receive up to 10 million gallons of neat SAF, as well as working with Shell to increase supplies of the fuel on the US West Coast and help alleviate fuelling infrastructure limitations in the Pacific Northwest. The Air Greenland deal, effective this month, is its first acquisition of SAF and will comprise up to 5% of the blend used on the carrier’s Copenhagen-Kangerlussuaq flights, more than double the proposed initial EU mandate of 2% from 2025.     

The new SAF agreements between Shell and the two US carriers build upon multiple existing agreements by the airlines with other suppliers and progress each of their ambitions to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040, a decade earlier than the airline industry’s generic 2050 target.

The JetBlue partnership with Shell Aviation builds on a SAF programme launched in 2020, when the airline began using supplies provided in Los Angeles and San Francisco by renewable fuel producers Neste and World Energy.  The airline has also signed agreements for future SAF supplies from Aemetis, Fidelis New Energy and Air Company, with the latter planning to produce low-emission fuel from converted CO2 emissions.

“We’ve long said we need multiple key stakeholders to step up to reach our aggressive emissions reduction goals,” said JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes. “This deal with Shell is a key signal of the growing engagement of the major fuel producers to begin converting conventional jet fuel to SAF. Shell’s involvement, with their expertise in energy markets and logistics, is a validation of the SAF market’s potential and highlights how critical the SAF transition of our hard-to-decarbonise industry is to establishing a more sustainable future of flight.”    

Sarah Bogdan, the airline’s Director of Sustainability and ESG, added: “We envision a future of a robust, regular and diversified supply of SAF delivered all around our network, incrementally replacing conventional fuels and driving down emissions in our operation. We’ve publicly committed to cutting our per-seat emissions in half by 2035 and a viable SAF market at scale is a key component to meet this goal. Working with Shell will not only help grow the availability of SAF in the long term but also ensure this transition is sustainable from a business perspective by building the connections and infrastructure to help keep the cost of SAF competitive with traditional fuel.”

The airline and the oil major will also collaborate to enable corporations to purchase JetBlue-issued SAF certificates to help compensate for the emissions from air travel by their employees. This will be enabled through the use of Avelia, a blockchain-powered SAF book-and-claim mechanism developed by Shell and Accenture with support from the Energy Web Foundation, and using the travel management services of American Express Global Business Travel to aggregate global business demand for SAF.

Once the new Shell deal takes full effect, SAF will account for 15% of JetBlue’s fuel uplift from LAX. The airline said this initiative and its other sustainability commitments would also apply to its planned integration – subject to regulatory approval – of low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines into its operation.

But while it highlighted increased SAF use in California, JetBlue said this was due to that state’s low-carbon fuel programme, adding that increased voluntary use of SAF at airports elsewhere would require additional state and federal level incentive programmes for SAF producers and airline purchasers.

In addition to buying neat SAF from Shell, Alaska Airlines has also agreed to work with the oil company to help develop the SAF market beyond a standard fuel supply arrangement. The new partnership includes commitments to broaden understanding of technology, infrastructure, carbon accounting systems and public policy support required to increase SAF production, lower the cost of the fuel and deliver it to more markets.

“We’ve pioneered SAF technologies for more than a decade. But we can’t scale the market alone,” said Diana Birkett Rakow, Alaska Airlines’ SVP Public Affairs and Sustainability. “We’re excited to take this next step in the journey with Shell, to leverage their deep knowledge of the energy industry, its infrastructure requirements and supply chain to make lower lifecycle carbon SAF more widely available for the future.” 

As airlines increasingly commit to 10% SAF blends by 2030, Shell also wants 10% of its 2030 jet fuel sales to be SAF, and is building capacity to blend, handle and distribute the alternative fuels to help expedite decarbonisation of air transport. “SAF will be the key technology to help decarbonise flight,” said Jan Toschka, President of Shell Aviation. “LAX is a critical North American airport hub and we’re delighted to be able to provide JetBlue and corporations on its Sustainable Travel Partners programme access to SAF, allowing them to lower their emissions while jointly contributing to investments in SAF.” 

Toschka also welcomed the broader partnership with Alaska Airlines to increase the SAF supply to the airline and to build capabilities for broader distribution. “We need support from the entire ecosystem to build a sustainable future for aviation,” he said. “This deep level of collaboration will help us put the technologies and supply chain in place to advance the industry.”

In Greenland, DCC & Shell Aviation Denmark, a joint venture between DCC Holding Denmark and Shell’s global aviation fuel division, has partnered with Air Greenland to provide SAF on flights between Copenhagen and Søndre Strømfjord/Kangerlussuaq, the largest airport in Greenland and one of the most important air corridors into the country. DCC & Shell Aviation is Denmark’s largest independent jet fuel supplier, providing logistics for and delivering Shell jet fuel to nine of the country’s airports.

Through the new agreement, Air Greenland has now introduced a SAF blend of up to 5% on the four-plus hour Copenhagen-Kangerlussuaq route, which is being upgraded from an Airbus A330-200 to a new, more fuel-efficient A330-800 neo jet. The deal is also the first to supply SAF to Copenhagen Airport.   

“We want to support the goal of Greenland becoming a sustainable destination by reducing fuel consumption and thus our CO2 emissions,” said Air Greenland’s CEO, Jacob Nitter Sørensen. “The combined impact of the SAF and our new aircraft fleet will reduce our CO2 emissions. I am proud that owing to this agreement, Air Greenland will be among the leading airlines in Europe’s green transition.”

Ashleigh McDougall, GM of Shell Aviation, Europe and Africa, said: “It’s fantastic to see Air Greenland getting ahead of the game on SAF and already voluntarily committing to proportions of SAF beyond those set to be required from 2025.”

Ulrik V. Brendstrup, CEO of DCC and Shell Aviation Denmark, said the Air Greenland deal was the largest SAF supply agreement ever signed by the company. “In light of the fact that the EU is discussing a SAF mandate starting at 2% in 2025, it is a really big step that we are now taking with Air Greenland,” he added.

The aviation fuel distributor’s Head of Sustainability & Strategy, Sune Petersen, said: “Right now, SAF produced from bio-waste is playing an important role in the shift away from fossil aviation fuel. And like other aviation stakeholders, we see SAF made from bio-waste as a good transition fuel on the road to a future where we fly on PtX-produced e-fuels.”

In addition to its Airbus A330 service between Copenhagen and Kangerlussuaq, the government-owned Air Greenland also provides a mix of commuter planes, large turboprop aircraft and helicopters to 62 domestic destinations, as well as flying to Iceland.

This article was updated on March 24 to add details of Shell’s new SAF agreement with Alaska Airlines.

Photo: DCC & Shell Aviation

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

JetBlue has become the latest US carrier to offer its corporate customers the opportunity to reduce their business travel emissions through the purchase of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Its new Sustainable Travel Partners programme also offers complimentary carbon offsetting on all domestic flights operated by JetBlue, personalised travel data and analysis for more accurate emissions reporting and consultation and tools for custom planning and target-setting to help support the partners in making more sustainable travel decisions. Launch customers for the programme include Biogen, Deloitte, ICF and Salesforce, who will be able to reduce their Scope 3 travel emissions through the purchase of JetBlue-generated SAF certificates, while assisting the airline to cover the current SAF cost premium. The programme’s partners will be helping source around 325,000 gallons of SAF, resulting in a reduction of 2,730 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

“As our business customers return to the skies, they increasingly have been asking for our support in meeting their net zero and sustainable travel goals,” said Sara Bogdan, JetBlue’s Director of Sustainability and Environmental Social Governance. “JetBlue has extensive expertise in decarbonising air travel thanks to our early and leading commitments and supply agreements. We’re now extending these options to our corporate customers so that for the first time, they can play a direct role in enhancing the sustainability of their air travel when flying with JetBlue.”

Since July 2020, the airline has used SAF as a component of its fuel supply from Neste out of San Francisco International Airport and, since July 2021, from World Energy on flights from Los Angeles International. It recently revealed a deal with SG Preston to purchase 67 million gallons of blended SAF a year for use at Northeast US airports over 10 years. The agreement brings JetBlue’s SAF offtake commitments based on a percentage of total fuel to around 8%, which it says is on track to meet its goal of converting 10% of total fuel use to SAF “years ahead” of its 2030 target.

Offering corporate customers the opportunity to purchase SAF certificates will not only help the airline cover the cost premium but also stimulate the emerging SAF market, said JetBlue, which it believes is critical for the aviation industry to reach its net zero goal.

Verification standards for SAF certificates are currently being formulated by the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) and the Sustainable Aviation Buyers Alliance (SABA). “We continue to monitor the evolution of the SAF certificate space and fully support the development of further structure around these certificates, and as founding members of the new SABA Aviators Group, we are able to remain engaged and adhere to these standards when they become available,” Bogdan told GreenAir.

“The certificates we are providing our corporate customers today are generated in-house at JetBlue and contain key data provided to us from our SAF producers. We are also managing a new inventory of SAF certificates to ensure we are closely accounting for each gallon of SAF delivered to us and associated certificates generated to ensure no double-selling.”

In building the programme, Bogdan said the airline wanted to go beyond just offering SAF certificates. “We recognise there’s no one solution to achieving net zero, so we designed it offering what we see as the key levers our partners can pull to further the sustainability of their corporate travel,” she said. “As a partner in this programme, our customers can purchase JetBlue-generated SAF certificates but they also have access to personalised emissions reporting on their JetBlue flights, expert guidance and target-setting support, along with our complimentary carbon offsetting of all domestic travel.”

In July 2020, JetBlue became the first US airline to voluntarily offset domestic CO2 emissions, purchasing offsets that are audited, verified and retired on its behalf by its three partners: Carbonfund.org, EcoAct and South Pole. Projects that reduce or avoid CO2 emissions are selected from around the world and focused on forestry, landfill gas capture, solar and wind.

“As Sustainable Travel Partners, JetBlue’s customers can benefit from enhanced reporting on our complimentary carbon offsets, as well as review opportunities to expand offsetting utilising our offsetting expertise and business partners,” said the airline.

JetBlue points out that business travellers have not previously had the ability to estimate their air travel emissions in a personalised, accurate or granular way.

“Through the programme, we are saving partners the effort of inaccurate guesswork by offering emissions reporting based on traveller’s actual flying and JetBlue’s average actual fuel burn on those routes,” it said. “Our intent is to provide partners with more accurate emissions reporting by sharing actual operational data, as well as incorporating the airline’s own emissions reduction initiatives into emissions reporting.”

JetBlue is also working to include travel emissions data into Salesforce’s Net Zero Cloud software, which it hopes to make available to the other programme partners. For corporate customers who purchase SAF certificates, JetBlue will also provide emissions reporting highlighting the estimated emissions reduction associated with the SAF.

“Whether an organisation is just starting to look at how they can implement sustainability goals and need some guidance or have an already developed sustainability programme with requirements for precision reporting, JetBlue seeks to approach each Sustainable Travel Partner as just that – a partner in our shared goal of making more sustainable travel decisions,” said Bogdan. “An example of this is our work with Salesforce to integrate JetBlue’s flight data into their Net Zero Cloud.”

Commented Patrick Flynn, VP and Global Head of Sustainability at Salesforce: “We are proud to join JetBlue’s Sustainable Travel Partners programme to help accelerate the aviation industry’s journey to net zero. The urgency of this climate emergency means we need all-of-the-above strategies. For us that includes helping incentivise emerging clean technologies like sustainable aviation fuels and working with partners like SABA to lower barriers to scale and cost reduction.”

Said ICF CEO John Wasson: “As the first professional services firm in the world to reach carbon neutral status in 2006, sustainability is part of our company’s DNA. As we continue to pursue our own ambitious carbon reduction targets, we’re thrilled to partner with JetBlue to help other companies achieve their sustainability targets too.”

Added Dr Alphonse Galdes, Head of Pharmaceutical Operations and Technology at Biogen: “Climate action is essential for human and planetary wellbeing. Yet if we hope to make a substantive impact in this area, we must come together across industries to re-examine the way we work, the way we live and the way we consume energy. By becoming an inaugural member of JetBlue’s programme, we are proud to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels and their associated impacts, as well as utilise more accurate data to inform travel decisions in the future.”

In November 2021, JetBlue joined SABA, a joint initiative with RMI, Environmental Defense Fund and a group of corporate travellers and US airline to help drive investment in high-integrity SAF. The previous month it became a launch member of the Aviation Climate Taskforce, a new non-profit organisation founded alongside nine other global airlines and Boston Consulting Group to accelerate breakthroughs in emerging technologies to decarbonise aviation.

Photo: JetBlue

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Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production on the US West Coast has been boosted with the announcement that Boeing will invest in SkyNRG Americas’ first dedicated SAF plant in the country, while JetBlue Airways said it will increase its usage of SAF by taking World Energy’s product for its operations at Los Angeles International Airport. SkyNRG, which is based in the Netherlands, is looking to establish a series of SAF production plants, with the first planned to come online in Europe, reports Mark Pilling. Its recently formed US subsidiary SkyNRG Americas said the US SAF facility will supply airports and airlines on the West Coast. Boeing’s investment in the project includes the advance purchase of SAF from the facility for use in company flight tests and other operations. At this stage, neither the location of the US SkyNRG SAF plant nor the scale of Boeing’s investment have been announced. Meanwhile, JetBlue’s new SAF deal with World Energy and World Fuel Services has already started with fuelling of the airline’s flights at Los Angeles.

Boeing, SkyNRG and SkyNRG Americas said they will work together to accelerate SAF development globally, focusing on scaling production capacity, building awareness and engaging stakeholders throughout the value chain, including airlines, governments and environmental organisations. “Sustainable aviation fuels are safe, proven and offer the greatest potential to reduce our industry’s carbon emissions in the near, medium and long term,” said Boeing Chief Sustainability Officer Chris Raymond. “This partnership is an important milestone on our journey to decarbonise aerospace, while ensuring that its societal and economic benefits are available to people everywhere.”

“We are extremely proud to take the longstanding Boeing-SkyNRG relationship to this new level. We have always been strong collaborators and through this teaming effort, we’re strengthening our relationship even further,” said Maarten van Dijk, Managing Director of SkyNRG.

Added John Plaza, Chief Executive of SkyNRG Americas: “We are thrilled to be in this partnership with Boeing and grateful for their leadership by providing an advance payment for SAF from our first facility. With this teaming agreement, SkyNRG Americas will be able to accelerate our efforts to expand the SAF industry throughout North America.”

Boeing becomes the second announced partner in SkyNRG Americas’ SAF production project following the signing of a memorandum of understanding in April between the firm and Alaska Airlines to jointly invest in its production, supply and use via offtakes. The MoU allows for Alaska Airlines to “collaborate on the development of SkyNRG Americas’ Direct Supply Line (DSL) projects and supporting policies that increase the commercial supply and pricing of SAF and educate the public on the benefits of SAF produced from municipal solid waste and associated waste streams,” a spokesperson for SkyNRG told GreenAir.

JetBlue’s new relationship with World Energy and World Fuel Services will increase JetBlue’s usage of SAF and will include 1.5 million gallons of blended SAF a year for at least three years, accounting for approximately 5% of JetBlue’s fuel uplift at Los Angeles International.

“JetBlue is facing climate change head on and preparing our business for a new climate reality,” said Sara Bogdan, JetBlue’s Director of Sustainability and ESG. “We are focused on growing our use of sustainable aviation fuel to replace conventional fossil-based jet fuel in our focus cities as it becomes available. It has not historically had the same policy support as other low carbon fuels and comes at a premium today. We’re excited by the prospect of additional policy support to help grow and scale sustainable aviation fuel, helping to usher in a lower-carbon future for aviation.”

The Los Angeles announcement follows JetBlue’s move to fuel flights from San Francisco International Airport with SAF from Neste. JetBlue is World Energy’s second US commercial airline partner to incorporate SAF into its regular operations. Delivery of the fuel into Los Angeles will be managed by World Fuel Services, JetBlue’s fuel management company. “JetBlue is taking aggressive action utilising tools available today to deliver on their net zero carbon emissions goals,” said Bryan Sherbacow, Chief Commercial Officer at World Energy. “Expanding commercial use of sustainable aviation fuel is critical in changing the industry’s carbon outcomes.”

The move by JetBlue at Los Angeles, one of the carriers most successful and busiest markets, and the SAF initiatives of other carriers, is strongly supported by the airport. “Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) is committed to achieving ambitious sustainability goals, including net zero carbon emissions and 100% renewable energy for LAX facilities by 2045,” said LAWA CEO Justin Erbacci.

JetBlue has aggressive sustainability targets including the conversion of 10% of total jet fuel to be from blended SAF by 2030 and the conversion of 40% of three main ground service equipment vehicle types to electric by 2025 and 50% by 2030. Renewable fuel options will play a critical role in the aviation industry’s transition to lower-carbon operations, it said. Its ambitious ESG targets include a goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2040. Last year, JetBlue became the first major US airline to achieve carbon neutrality on all domestic flying, primarily through buying carbon offsets.

Photo: Boeing

Mark Pilling

GreenAir Contributing Editor

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IATA has formally launched the Aviation Carbon Exchange (ACE), a platform for airlines and other aviation stakeholders to offset their carbon footprint by purchasing credits in certified projects. Carbon reduction programmes on ACE include forestry projects, clean wind energy operations, protection of eco-systems and remote community-based projects to cut emissions. The platform has been under development since the beginning of the year and is aimed at providing a tool for airlines in fulfilling their offsetting obligations starting in 2021 under the ICAO CORSIA scheme. The impact of Covid-19 on the airline industry and a change to the CORSIA baseline means offsetting under the scheme is now unlikely to be required for at least several years but ACE will still be open to airlines wanting to invest in voluntary offsets. ACE was developed in conjunction with commodities trader Xpansiv CBL Holding Group and US carrier JetBlue has completed the first trade.

The Aviation Carbon Exchange becomes the first centralised, real-time marketplace to be integrated with the IATA Clearing House (ICH) for the settlement of funds on trades in carbon offsets. With an annual turnover of around $56 billion, IATA says the ICH provides a fast and secure billing and settlement services for the air transport industry and will ensure that ACE can guarantee payment and delivery of carbon credits.

Although ACE was conceived as a CORSIA tool, IATA still foresees a demand from airlines that have set net-zero emissions targets and those wishing to offset domestic operations, which are outside the scope of CORSIA.

“Airlines are serious in their commitment to reduce emissions. And they need a reliable tool to access quality carbon credits in real time,” said Director General Alexandre de Juniac at the IATA Annual General Meeting held virtually this week. “ACE will be a key tool helping airlines efficiently manage these important transactions.”

Added Sebastian Mikosz, IATA’s SVP for Member and External Relations: “ACE gives airlines access to top quality carbon offsetting schemes in real-time with full transparency. CORSIA is a key enabler of our long-term strategy to reduce emissions to half of 2005 levels by 2050, and this new platform will be of enormous benefit to our members and other industry stakeholders.”

In the first trade on the exchange, JetBlue purchased an undisclosed number of credits in the first phase of the Larimar wind farm project in the Dominican Republic, which began development in 2015 and when completed is expected to reduce average emissions by more than 200,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.

“Our planet is physically changing, as are the expectations of our customers, crew members and investors,” said Robin Hayes, CEO of JetBlue. “While our industry’s short-term priorities are focused on Covid-19 recovery, now is the time to rebuild operations in more sustainable ways such as adopting sustainable aviation fuels and setting clear strategies to reduce net aviation CO2 emissions. The Aviation Carbon Exchange will help us continue to meet our climate commitments by providing simplified and transparent access to legitimate, third-party certified carbon offsets.”

During the AGM, Hayes was appointed Chair of the IATA Board of Governors and his airline will host next year’s AGM in Boston. Also announced was the stepping down of Alexandre de Juniac as Director General and he will be replaced in April 2021 by the former CEO of International Airlines Group, Willie Walsh.

In a revised outlook for airline industry performance in 2020 and 2021, IATA expects the sector to experience a net loss of $118.5 billion in 2020, deeper than forecast in June, to be followed by a net loss of $38.7 billion next year. Passenger numbers are expected to plummet to 1.8 billion, 60.5% down on the 4.5 billion passengers in 2019. This, it says, is about the same number as carried in 2003. International markets have been hit disproportionately harder than domestic markets, which have been propelled by a recovery in Russia and China.

IATA’s Director of Environment, Michael Gill, told this week’s ICAO Green Recovery virtual seminar that the sector’s global CO2 emissions in 2020 would be around 330 million tonnes, a level last seen in 1977.

Meanwhile, Aviation Carbon Exchange’s partner CBL announced record volumes this week, having traded 25.2 million voluntary carbon offsets in the year-to-date, an increase of 235% over the same period in 2019.

Photo: First offset trade on ACE – the Larimar Wind Farm project in the Dominican Republic