Sustainable Aviation Fuel
How does SAF help to decarbonise air travel?
Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is an alternative fuel to fossil-based jet that can help to significantly reduce emissions from flying. It is a critical lever1 in meeting International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) net-zero carbon 2050 goal for international aviation.2
Aviation will need to use all available solutions and measures to decarbonise – no single solution will be enough on its own. The industry has made progress and must continue improving operational efficiencies, but these are being outpaced by the sector’s growth. Carbon credits or offsets have an immediate role to play during the time it takes to fully develop and scale up other ways to decarbonise the sector. Electric and hydrogen-powered aircraft have the potential for certain applications and uses, particularly for smaller aircraft over short to medium-haul flights in the 2040s.3
SAF remains one of the more viable and scalable in-sector option for reducing emissions in the 2050 timeframe.
SAF can be made from renewable and waste-based sources such as used cooking oil, municipal and agricultural waste, with technologies to produce SAF from CO2 and hydrogen under commercial development. It has the potential to reduce lifecycle emissions by up to 80% when used neat, compared with conventional aviation fuel.4 SAF is also a drop-in fuel, which can be blended at a ratio of up to 50% with conventional jet fuel for use in aircraft operating today.5
In 2021, SAF still amounted to less than 0.1% of global fuel consumption.6 There are still many challenges before SAF can be deployed at the scale needed. These are related to technological readiness and the availability of sustainable feedstocks, creating the key challenge – cost.
Shell is taking action to help aviation scale SAF and reach net zero
Shell Aviation is actively working across all parts of the value chain to support the aviation industry on the pathway to net zero. Shell is taking action to supply SAF safely and securely to customers, to invest in SAF production and help develop more technologies to produce SAF, as well as working to ensure all elements of supply chain – form sustainable feedstock to blending facilities - are in place. We are already supplying SAF to customers across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, including several of the world’s largest airport hubs.
SAF production
Shell is investing in SAF production and accelerating the use of a range of different technology pathways to create SAF molecules.
- In 2022, Shell acquired EcoOils, an innovative business that recycles waste oils to feedstock that can be used in HEFA pathway.
- Shell has invested in , a leading sustainable fuels technology company and sustainable fuels producer. In addition to its initial investment, Shell will have the opportunity to sublicense the Alcohol-to-Jet (AtJ) fuel technology and make further investments in the construction of larger-scale production facilities over coming years.
SAF supply
Shell recognises that building our production facilities will take time. To play our part, we are collaborating with other SAF producers and ensuring the right SAF supply infrastructure is in place.
In May 2023, Shell announced a , which became the largest SAF producer in North America at the start of production.
Shell and its affiliates are expanding and building supply chain capabilities to blend and distribute SAF throughout the US, helping increase access to SAF production in the US for our customers.
The neat SAF produced by Montana Renewables will be used to fulfill supply agreements with Delta Air Lines, and at Los Angeles International Airport.
In February 2022, Shell became the first supplier of SAF to customers in Singapore as part of our supply agreement with Neste.
Shell has also completed the upgrading of its SAF blending facility in Singapore.
Our work in enhancing SAF’s end to end supply chain in the Asia region has enabled us to supply SAF to Japan Airlines, at Changi Airport, and respectively at Seletar Airport, and at Hong Kong International Airport.
In January 2020, Shell Aviation and World Energy announced a multi-year supply agreement to develop a scalable supply of SAF.
Since July 2020, Shell Aviation has been working with World Energy to supply Amazon Air’s cargo operations with SAF. This is a great example of how the cargo aviation sector, in addition to commercial airlines, can contribute to accelerating aviation’s pathway to net-zero emissions by building demand.
Collaboration
We intend to be a catalyst for positive change - working together with all players in the aviation ecosystem to help accelerate the sector’s pathway to net zero.
Avelia
In June 2022, Shell, Accenture, American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) and Energy Web Foundation launched Avelia - one of the world’s first blockchain powered digital SAF book and claim solutions for air travel.
The aim of the solution is to aggregate SAF demand for air travel, to unlock investment and scale SAF production over the coming years. Such model, in turn, could help enable airlines and corporations to make progress towards their emissions targets.
Avelia opens up direct access to SAF for corporations looking to reduce their indirect emissions associated with air travel.
Since Avelia’s launch in June 2022 to date (mid-November 2023), Shell Aviation has injected over 3.4 million gallons of SAF into the existing fuel network at six airport locations1 around the world, abating over 30,000 tCO2e, the equivalent of around 50,000 flights from London to New York2.
These volumes are part of the agreements signed by over 20 corporations3 to purchase environmental attributes associated with SAF totaling 49 million gallons of SAF to be supplied by Shell up to 20264. Once injected into the fueling network, this could potentially bring the total abated CO2e to more than 450,000 tCO2e5, the equivalent of nearly 800,000 flights from London to New York2.
20 corporations and airlines have purchased environmental attributes associated with the supplied SAF, transacted through over 550 customer Declarations of Environmental Attributes (DEA) retirements in Avelia.
The corporations currently transacting SAF through Avelia represent a range of different industries and operate within multiple markets. We are proud to be supporting businesses operating across technology, finance, cargo, and travel – plus others – in reducing emissions from their air travel while servicing multinationals across Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
Find out more:
1 Airport locations are Hong Kong, Le Havre France, Singapore Changi, Ontario, Los Angeles, and Dubai
2 The number of one-way long haul average passenger flights has been calculated based on the following assumptions, a flight distance between London and New York of 5541km, and an emissions factor for a long-haul flight of 0.102 kgCO₂e/passenger-km based on 鶹ý DEFRA 2022 emissions factors for corporate reporting
3 Airline carriers and corporations who have signed on to Avelia include Alaska Airlines, Amex GBT, Aon, Bank of America, Cathay Pacific Airways, Delta Air Lines, Emirates, Google LLC, Japan Airlines, Kintetsu World
Express, JetBlue Airways, Rolls-Royce, and Yokogawa, among others
4 The amount of attributes ultimately delivered under these agreements will depend on the availability/supply of SAF during the relevant contract periods
5 Basis for the projected carbon abatement computation: CORSIA default is 22.5 gCO2e/MJ for HEFA SAF with beef tallow: . Actual GHG Carbon Intensity will be known upon delivery.
Synthetic Kerosene
In February 2021, Shell accepted a challenge from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management to produce a small amount of sustainable synthetic kerosene at the Shell Technology Centre Amsterdam. The fuel was then blended to be used to power the world’s first passenger flight partly flown on sustainably produced synthetic kerosene from Schiphol to Madrid.
Clean Skies for Tomorrow Coalition
Shell Aviation is proud to be a founding member of The , which works together on projects to make SAF more widely available.
The coalition aims to support the ambition to achieve net-zero emissions in the aviation industry by 2050, and Shell supports its view that SAF production can feasibly ramp up to 10% of total European jet fuel consumption by 2030.
Jet Zero Council
Shell Aviation are proud to be a member of the .
The Council brings together government, representatives from the environmental sector and the aviation and aerospace industry to tackle aviation emissions in line with the government’s ambition to achieve the first ever zero emission long haul passenger plane.
Navigating the pathway to sustainable aviation
The aviation industry is on its way to returning to the skies, and part of that return must include reducing its contribution to climate change. The current options are limited and complex, but with urgent action and collaboration from multiple stakeholders and consumer demand for sustainable aviation still strong, significant reductions in aviation emissions are possible.
Decarbonising Aviation: Cleared for Take-off
Read the industry perspectives report “Decarbonising Aviation: Cleared for Take-off” which examines solutions for the aviation industry to transition towards net zero.
Decarbonising Aviation: Shell’s Flight Path
Explore Shell’s perspective, Decarbonising Aviation: Shell’s Flight Path, which sets out the actions we are taking to help reduce aviation emissions.
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