“Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is the only pathway for business aircraft flight departments to meaningfully reduce Scope 1 (direct) emissions,” Darren Fuller, v-p of business development for business aviation at World Fuel Services, told attendees yesterday at AIN’s Building a Sustainable Flight Department forum. “Supply is the biggest impediment to its wider adoption, and operators need to make big public commitments to SAF—this is required for investment in SAF production.” According to Fuller, the U.S. has only one operational SAF refinery (in Southern California), with two more planned on the West Coast and another under construction in the Southeast.
While Fuller said SAF "is jet-A,” the difference is that with SAF “aircraft operators are paying more for an associated reduction in carbon.” That reduction, he explained, comes from the sourcing of the fuel, which at present typically comes from woody biomass, animal meat waste, or used cooking oil. “With SAF we’re reusing carbon that is already above the ground; with jet-A, we’re taking a carbon bank out of the ground and adding more carbon into the atmosphere when we use it,” he added.
Even when SAF supply rises it still won’t be available at every airport, so Fuller said operators will need to use book-and-claim as a strategy to reduce their carbon footprint.