Story ID: 422
Embraer Eyes Expansion, Acceptance of SAF
By: Kerry Lynch
Caption: Embraer has a multi-faced sustainability effort involving the expansion of SAF, research on electric, and hydrogen testing.
Word Count: 869
Embraer is taking the next step towards expanding the use and acceptance of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and has sent flight operations letters to its customer base advising that the use of the fuel is safe for its fleet of executive jets. The operations letters, which went out through the customer portal over the past few weeks, are part of an effort to encourage the use of SAF where available, said Alvadi Serpa, director of product strategy for Embraer.

“We put them out to educate our customers and help them become more aware of and more comfortable about using it,” he noted.

The letters advise that SAF blends meeting ASTM standards are acceptable to use in lieu of traditional jet-A. They further reassure operators that they should not expect any performance differences as a result of SAF use, Serpa said.

“It will take some time until the operators are fully aware of these initiatives and are fully comfortable with them. But I think we're going to see them increase adoption of SAF in their operations,” he explained.

The move comes as Embraer is working toward increasing its own use of SAF and/or book-and-claim as part of its overarching environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals that were released last year. 

Embraer (Booth Z29, Static AD_4) worked with Avfuel to bring a few truckloads of SAF to its operations at Melbourne Airport in Florida last year. That “allowed us to understand how to manage the fuel, how to bring it to the airplane, and how to use carbon credits and so forth,” Serpa said.

While the company is working toward increasing the adoption of SAF, Serpa said, “It’s hard to get at this point.” He added that SAF is still not readily available, particularly on the U.S. East Coast, and it is still expensive. That led the company to add book-and-claim options—under which it purchases SAF for use elsewhere—to its sustainability efforts.

This was the option it used on its flight from a fueling stop in College Station, Texas, to Henderson Executive in Las Vegas for NBAA. Since SAF was unavailable at this airport, Embraer arranged to use Avfuel’s book-and-claim program, becoming one of the first customers for the fuel provider. Embraer further worked with World Fuel on a similar book-and-claim arrangement for flights of its static-display aircraft to EBACE since it did not have SAF availability for the trip.

Serpa added that Embraer is having conversations with its suppliers on increasing availability. “I think the more we push, the more we’ll send the message of the importance of getting the fuel availability. When the industry asks for it, then the supply will come.” But that availability will require demand from the entire industry.

Embraer has cleared the use of up to a 50 percent SAF blend. But typically, what’s found in the field is more akin to 25 or 30 percent SAF blends, he said.

The ultimate goal, he said, is to have the ability to use 100 percent SAF. Embraer is researching this ability for its fleet with a range of industry partners, including Honeywell, Safran, Pratt & Whitney Canada, and Parker Aerospace. The partners are examining necessary modifications to achieve that goal, Serpa said, estimating that, “I think we will have a solution in the next seven or eight years.”

As Embraer looks to the expansion of SAF use, it also is continuing testing of its electric demonstrator, based on the EMB-203 Ipanema, in partnership with WEG and EDP, two of the largest electric mobility solutions providers in Brazil.

“We are now doing test flights on that airplane to understand how the electric system behaves in flight and what the challenges and advantages are.” Lessons learned from the electric demonstrator will be used in other projects such as the Eve urban air mobility aircraft.

While he does not in the short term see heavier aircraft going all-electric, Serpa said, “There’s a lot that we can learn from the small aircraft that can help us make the big airplanes more electric, and by making them more electric, we will rely less on fossil fuel.”

These tests have already produced lessons surrounding battery management and installation in concert with engines, he noted.

As those tests begin to wrap up, Embraer plans to turn to testing of hydrogen fuel cells to help understand the use of such energy systems on flight characteristics and system behavior, Serpa said, adding that the Brazilian manufacturer is eyeing first flight in the 2025 timeframe.

All of these lessons will be wrapped into its Energia concept family unveiled in November involving a mix of hybrid, hydrogen, dual-fuel gas turbine, and electric propulsion systems that could enter service in the next several decades.

The goal, he said, is “being able to have a portfolio of products that will have net zero emissions. There's not a silver bullet but rather a combination of different technologies that when properly deployed will take us to the net-zero industry target for 2050.”