Valero Energy Corporation reported fourth quarter financial results on January 30, reporting that its ethanol and renewable diesel divisions were both profitable in the quarter. The company also announced that its Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) program in Texas is fully operational.

The SAF program at DGD’s Port Arthur, Texas facility was successfully completed in the fourth quarter and is now fully operational. The program gives the plant the option to upgrade approximately 50 percent of its current 470 MMgy capacity to SAF.

Fischer, Valero’s senior vice president of product supply, trading and wholesaling, said the production process went smoothly and the company sold its first SAF in November, declining to speculate on expected SAF production in 2025, noting that the company has very good flexibility and that HVO renewable diesel fuel is currently as good as or better than SAF economically.

On January 31, Renewables Now reported that Hong Kong-based SAF producer EcoCeres is planning an initial public offering (IPO) on the European stock exchanges. The deal, which is scheduled for next year, could raise between $500 million and $1 billion, depending on market conditions, and values the entire business at around $5 billion, according to Bloomberg. EcoCeres, founded by Hong Kong-based Towngas, specializes in converting waste into renewable fuels, renewable chemicals and materials.

January 24, 2025 – The Carbon Market Association of India (CMAI) has announced the appointment of Vijay Nirani, Founder and Managing Director of TruAlt Bioenergy, as Co-Chair of the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Alliance (SAF) India.

This groundbreaking initiative will be officially launched at the inaugural India Climate Week (ICW) 2025, to be held February 3-7, 2025 at Le Meridien New Delhi.

India Climate Week 2025 is expected to be an important gathering of policy makers, industry leaders and environmental advocates to highlight India’s progress on climate action.

LanzaJet announced on January 22 that it has selected Wilton International Airport on Teesside for its next production facility, the Speedbird project.

LanzaJet has partnered with Sembcorp Utilities (UK) Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sembcorp Industries Limited, to develop an ethanol-based SAF facility at Wilton International in Teesside, UK.

In partnership with British Airways, the Speedbird project will produce more than 90,000 metric tons (30 million gallons) of SAF and renewable diesel fuel annually.

Enilive announced on January 22 that its first Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) plant has been commissioned at the Gela biorefinery in Sicily, Italy, with a capacity of 400,000 tons per year. This is nearly one-third of the projected European SAF demand in 2025 following the implementation of the ReFuelEU aviation regulation.

Under the ReFuelEU aviation regulation, aviation fuel suppliers are required to ensure that a certain percentage of SAF is included in fuel supplied to air operators at EU airports, with the regulation requiring a minimum percentage of SAF starting at 2% in 2025 and gradually increasing to 6% in 2030, 20% in 2035, 34% in 2040, 42% in 2045 and 70% in 2050. The following are some examples of the changes that have been made to the program.

Since September 2022, Enilive has signed SAF supply agreements with several airlines. Initial production has been achieved using waste-based feedstocks thanks to synergies between the Gela biorefinery and other Eni facilities.

Enilive plans to increase its biorefinery capacity to more than 5 million tons per year by 2030 and to double its SAF capacity to 1 million tons per year by 2026 and again by 2030.

On January 16th, Senator Jerry Moran, Republican of Kansas, and bipartisan colleagues reintroduced the Farm to Flight Act to accelerate the production and development of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF).

The Farm to Flight Act seeks to expand the market for U.S. crops in aviation bioenergy by clarifying SAF eligibility in the USDA Bioenergy Program. The bill would also encourage greater cooperation among USDA agency mission areas on aviation biofuels to promote private sector partnerships and require USDA to adopt a common definition of SAF to ensure that U.S. crops effectively contribute to aviation renewable fuels.

Many biofuels and agriculture groups have expressed support for the legislation, including the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Coalition, Growth Energy and the Renewable Fuels Association.

SAF One has announced the acquisition of Green Biotrade, a UAE-based feedstock and biofuel trading company, a strategic acquisition that will enhance SAF One’s supply chain capabilities and provide key feedstocks for its Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) program.

Cosmo Oil Co., JGC Holdings Corporation, Revo International and SAFFAIRE SKY ENERGY announced the completion of the SAF production facility, which will utilize used cooking oil as a feedstock for the production and supply of domestically produced SAF.

The four partners announced the December 25, 2024 completion date for the project.

The four companies aim to become the first company in Japan to produce domestically produced SAF on a large scale, supplying approximately 30,000 kiloliters of SAF per year domestically, using 100% used cooking oil as a feedstock.

JGC will be responsible for setting up the entire supply chain, Revo International for sourcing raw materials, Sapphire Sky Energy for producing SAF, and Cosmo Energy Group for producing blended SAF and selling it to customers.

Kilang Pertamina Internasional, the refining arm of Indonesia’s state-owned energy company Pertamina, plans to produce its first batch of certified sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in the first quarter of this year.

The company received SAF certifications in December, including the International Sustainability Carbon Certification (ISCC), the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) and the ISCC European Union (EU) certification.

The company will produce SAF at its Chirazza refinery using a treated distillate hydrotreating unit.

“KPI is ready to produce the first batch of ISCC-certified Pertamina SAF from waste cooking oil in Indonesia and the region, which is scheduled to start production in the first quarter of 2025,” spokesman Hermansyah Y. Nasroen said in a statement.

KPI said its Chiraza Green Refinery has the capacity to process 6,000 barrels per day of waste cooking oil for the production of hydrogenated vegetable oil and SAF, with a total annual production capacity estimated at around 300,000 kiloliters.

Spanish airlines will pay an additional €234.2 million this year for the use of 2% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) since the EU’s sustainable aviation fuel mandate came into force on January 1, the Spanish aviation group Asociación de Líneas Aéreas said on January 2, adding that it would be a good idea for Spanish airlines to pay an additional €234.2 million this year for the use of 2% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

The Spanish Aviation Association (ALA) has called for production incentives to scale up its development and reduce its price differential with conventional kerosene.

This year will see the start of the implementation of the “ReFuelEU Aviation” directive from Brussels, which establishes quotas for the use of SAF ranging from 2% in 2025 to 70% in 2050.

According to the ALA, the total cost of using 2% SAF in Spain this year alone will be more than €332 million – a figure that is set to rise as SAF shares are gradually increased, especially with the introduction of synthetic SAF (eSAF) generated from renewable energy sources.

The association said that when the SAF quota rises to 6% in 2030 and 1.2% synthetic SAF is introduced, the additional cost to be borne by EU airlines will rise to around €9.5 billion.

This extra cost will have to be added to the cost of trading EU ETS emission credits, which will become more expensive from 2026 when free emission credits disappear, in addition to a gradual reduction in the supply of emission credits, whose price will be pressured by demand.