Ramping up roadmaps under ICAO’s ACT-SAF initiative

Around the world, local feedstocks from diverse sources that vary by region such as beef tallow, oilseeds and municipal solid waste offer the potential to yield billions of additional gallons of SAF for aviation every year. But which ones are the most cost-effective, and politically and technically achievable in any particular country?

For years, Boeing has supported the development region-specific roadmaps and SAF feedstock analyses together with local partners to answer that question and help scale SAF production locally to help meet demand globally.

These efforts accelerated in September 2023 when Boeing joined ICAO’s Assistance, Capacity-building and Training for Sustainable Aviation Fuels (ACT-SAF) initiative, which creates opportunities for countries to develop their full potential in SAF development and deployment. Joining ACT-SAF was a natural extension of the work Boeing started in 2008 to partner and invest in SAF development and collaborate with stakeholders across the SAF value chain.

Our studies span the UK, Ireland, India, UAE, Australia & New Zealand, Brazil, South Africa, Ethiopia, Japan and a recently launched SAF feedstock assessment for Southeast Asia.

“These roadmaps inform three things,” said Brian Moran, chief sustainability officer at Boeing. “They inform policy, including incentives and other measures, such as revenue certainty mechanisms that de-risk investment in SAF facilities for producers. They inform technology, and which feedstock and production pathways are the most promising to scale up. And thirdly, they inform financing and opportunity for investors.”

Key takeaways from Boeing-sponsored SAF roadmaps:

Japan

• A SAF feedstock study on Japan, undertaken by strategic consultancy firm ICF and led by Boeing, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and SMBC Aviation Capital, identified potential for Japan to produce up to 441 million gallons (1.67 billion liters) of SAF by 2030.
• Promising feedstocks include woody biomass, municipal solid waste and renewable electricity.
• This could allow the country to nearly meet its 2030 goal of using 10% SAF for international flights.

Southeast Asia

• RSB’s report on Southeast Asia noted the region boasts significant potential to produce SAF due to its abundant bio-based feedstock resources such as agricultural residues, sugars, municipal waste and some energy crops.
• The region’s bio-based feedstock capacity could produce 34.2 billion gallons (129.4 billion liters) of SAF annually by 2050, or about 12% of global SAF demand.
• 75% of the potential SAF feedstock can be sourced from post-consumer and agricultural waste.
• Making up 37% of total feedstock contribution, the most voluminous feedstocks are rice husks and straw.

Australia

• CSIRO’s report on Australia illustrates that through a combination of feedstocks and technologies, local feedstocks can meet a large and growing portion of Australia’s jet fuel demand.
• This report projects that in 2025, Australia will have enough feedstocks to produce 60% of local jet fuel demand, growing to 90% by 2050.
• This SAF would be produced using biogenic feedstocks, which will continue to grow and hydrogen production ramps up.

Brazil

• A RSB report on Brazil determined huge potential in sugarcane bagasse and wood residues, particularly in the south-eastern part of the country.
• The main findings suggest the potential for SAF production from the mapped residues in Brazil is up to 2.4 billion gallons (9.08 billion liters), which is around 125% of the current fossil kerosene (Jet A) consumption in Brazil.

“Scaling SAF sustainably is not one size fits all, so these roadmaps are incredibly important to guide these investments,” said Moran. “They unlock guidance as to where we should put precious resources while guiding governments on national priorities they can help advance.”