Boeing and the United States are launching an initiative to catalyze the development and use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) among Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member countries. SAF, which significantly reduces the lifecycle carbon emission of jet fuel, is key to achieving goals set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the civil aviation industry to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
SAF certified for use today can reduce lifecycle CO2 up to 85% and holds the greatest potential to reduce aviation's emissions over the next 30 years, but the key challenges to greater use are a limited supply and high cost. Airlines' current use of SAF represents 0.1% of global jet fuel demand.
Aiming to support APEC economies' efforts to develop SAF supply, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), will partner with Boeing to sponsor this project in APEC's Transportation Working Group. The initiative will address potential challenges for APEC economies in creating and growing nascent SAF markets, including:
- Identifying the availability of sustainable feedstocks for SAF
- Analyzing new pathways to optimize SAF production
- Leveraging existing industries and infrastructure for SAF production
- Enabling the development of SAF-specific policies for production and use
- Exploring SAF accounting mechanisms, including book and claim
This initiative will enhance the SAF ecosystem across the APEC region by capturing best practices and case studies from economies with more developed SAF markets while providing guidance and support to economies seeking to establish new SAF markets and enabling a policy toolkit to ensure regional cohesion in SAF policies and regulations.
"Industry studies and data tell us that SAF is essential to meet aviation's net zero commitment, but we need more of it," said Chris Raymond, Boeing Chief Sustainability Officer. "This initiative helps deepen the partnerships that we have had for years with several countries to advance SAF. We will foster collaboration and knowledge exchange among APEC economies, all in pursuit of a safe, and more sustainable aviation future."
The agreement builds on Boeing's work to help scale SAF globally through industry partnerships and policy advocacy, investments in product compatibility work and Boeing's own purchase of millions of gallons of SAF for its commercial operations. Recent Boeing initiatives to advance SAF include:
- Partnering with the APEC Secretariat to deliver a series of 'sustainable aviation' regional webinars on SAF.
- Collaboration with Zero Petroleum for testing and analyzing the next generation of technologies to accelerate the supply of SAF.
- Collaboration with the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials to explore SAF feedstock opportunities in Southeast Asia, Ethiopia, South Africa and Brazil.
- Joining the ACT FOR SKY organization in Japan to work on the commercialization, promotion and expansion of domestically produced SAF.
- Mobilizing our supply chain to complete the testing necessary to ensure Boeing commercial airplanes are 100% compatible by 2030.
- Recently joining the World Energy Council to drive sustainable energy transitions.
- Since 2022, Boeing has purchased 7.6 million gallons of SAF for its U.S. commercial airplane operations.
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