Lack of SAF access an issue for stakeholders

MIAMI — A lack of access to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is causing problems for stakeholders looking to decrease their Scope 3 emissions. “At the end of the day, these 100% sustainable flights are extremely limited because there’s really not enough supply out there,” Mads Ravn, executive vice president and head of global air freight procurement at logistics provider DSV, told Air Cargo World . Jet fuel prices reached unusual heights this year and SAF is more expensive than kerosene fuel, Ravn said. In the U.S., SAF is only produced on the West Coast, making it difficult, if not impossible, for stakeholders to fly from East Coast airports using SAF, Stefan Krikken, airfreight procurement head for DSV North America, told Air Cargo World . [caption id="attachment_97388" align="alignright" width="345"] DB Schenker, Lufthansa Cargo and Nokia partner on SAF-fueled flight (Photo: Lufthansa Cargo)[/caption] There are only three airports in the U.S. that offer SAF flights today: San Francisco (SFO), Los Angeles International (LAX) and Oakland (OAK). The California State Legislature in August passed a bill to incentivize the use of SAF, with the goal of using 20% SAF in flights by 2030. The limited SAF supply is driving rates and its subsidization in certain countries and states creates price differences between those that do not subsidize, Ravn said. “In some countries, you could argue that it’ll be way too expensive to [use SAF].” Despite the limited stock of the alternative fuel, stakeholders continue to promote SAF as a decarbonization method. Germany-headquartered freight forwarder DB Schenker purchased 11,000 tonnes of SAF that it will make available for customers to apply on its flights, according to a Nov. 10 release from the company. While the purchase will be allocated for customers to attribute to their own ESG reporting, the “actual physical insertion of SAF might occur on different flights,” than the one flown for the customer, according to the release. A partnership between Etihad Airways and low-carbon solutions provider World Energy Partners similarly offers a SAF Book & Claim program, in which the carrier purchases SAF to offset its flight, according to a Nov. 17 release from World Energy. Etihad's "net-zero flight" flew from Washington Dulles (DUL) to Abu Dhabi (AUH), but the 26,000 gallons of SAF was produced and used at LAX. See also: Sustainable aviation fuel: The key to decarbonizing the airfreight industry In October, multinational conglomerate Honeywell shared its new ethanol-to-jet fuel processes to help meet the rising demand for SAF. Instead of using waste products, Honeywell’s technology would convert corn-based, cellulosic or sugar-based ethanol into jet fuel. However, Honeywell does not produce the SAF itself and did not provide any indication as to whether this technology will be implemented to create more fuel. SAF purchases Kintetsu World Express (KWE) signed an extended contract with All Nippon Airways (ANA) for its SAF Flight Initiative to ship cargo on flights with SAF from October 2022 until March 2023, according to a Nov. 10 release from KWE. In early November, WestJet committed to using SAF on its flights between SFO and Calgary (YYG) for the next three months. SAF is considered “super important” for WestJet Cargo as well, Kirsten de Brujin, executive vice president of Cargo, told Air Cargo World.

Lack of SAF access an issue for stakeholders

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