Report: Australia Has Enough SAF Feedstock for 2030 Needs

Australian agribusiness conglomerate GrainCorp said its home country has enough feedstock to meet its 2030 estimated sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) needs as its SAF industry transitions from feasibility studies to early commercial deployment.

In a white paper, “From Paddock to Plane,” the company noted that Australia’s current volumes of potential feedstocks such as used cooking oil, tallow, canola, sugarcane, wheat starch, crop residues, forestry residues, and municipal solid waste could yield nearly three billion gallons of neat SAF a year. With future feedstock developments, including energy crops and perennials, the country’s total feedstock potential could be used to produce about 4.5 billion gallons of SAF annually.

According to the report, each SAF refinery technology is at a different maturity level (with the longest-established HEFA pathway using used cooking oils, fats, and greases) and has different feedstock requirements, which often are not suitable for other processes.

While Australia’s diverse feedstocks, production types, and regions provide a good foundation for a domestic sustainable aviation fuel industry, GrainCorp recommends that used cooking oil, along with sugar and starch crops, could kickstart the country’s SAF production industry. That assessment is based on technology maturity, economic competitiveness, and supply-chain readiness.