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.

Jan. 5 — SK Energy, South Korea’s largest refiner, said today it has shipped its first shipment of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to Europe, which has implemented one of the world’s most stringent carbon neutral regulations for the aviation industry.

With the shipment, SK Energy, a subsidiary of SK Innovation Co. and Korea’s largest energy company and battery maker, became the first Korean refiner to export SAF to Europe.

The UK’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) legislation came into effect on January 1st.

Under the law, SAF must account for at least 2% of all aviation fuel used on flights departing from the UK from 2025, rising annually to 10% by 2030 and 22% by 2040.

The UK government says that by 2030, the UK will be supplying around 1.2 million metric tons of SAF to the aviation industry each year – enough to circle the globe 3,000 times.

As one of the first countries in the world to sign such a law, the UK government says it is leading the way in decarbonizing air travel and is helping to kick-start the government’s plan for change.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), with support from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), recently released the report Sustainable Aviation Fuel Blending and Logistics.

The report, which is the result of ongoing collaboration between NREL researchers and aviation industry stakeholders, provides information and recommendations on effective petroleum jet fuel (Jet A) and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) quality standards, transportation and supply chain flows, and blending methods. Notably, the researchers determined that SAF could be blended with Jet A at existing terminals (which are already equipped with blending equipment, software, and staff) and delivered directly to airports, thereby increasing the efficiency of the entire SAF supply chain.

To meet the changing needs of the expanding SAF market, this report is a timely update to the 2021 NREL report, U.S. Airport Infrastructure and Sustainable Aviation Fuels. Since the release of that report, more SAF production facilities have come online and more members of the aviation industry have committed to using SAF to meet their environmental and sustainability goals.

The East African newspaper reports that African airlines are protesting the European Commission’s new regulations requiring them to use sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) when departing from European airports. They argue that the high cost of SAF could drive them out of business. Smaller carriers, such as Uganda Airlines and Air Tanzania, which are set to begin European operations in 2025, are expected to be the hardest hit. However, even larger airlines like Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya Airways are voicing concerns, calling for either exemptions from the rules or subsidies to offset the steep fuel prices.

On December 20, Chiyoda Corporation announced that it has been successfully awarded a front-end engineering design (FEED) contract by Idemitsu Kogyo Co. for a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production facility at the Tokuyama Complex Facility in Shonan, Japan.

Idemitsu plans to commit to producing 500 million liters (approximately 132 million gallons) of SAF annually through the establishment of a domestic supply chain in support of the Japanese government’s and the aviation industry’s goal of replacing 10 percent of aviation fuel consumption with SAF by 2030.

According to Izumo Kogyo’s plans, the complex will produce 250 million liters (approximately 66 million gallons) of SAF annually from fiscal 2028 onward, utilizing hydrogenated ester and fatty acid (HEFA) technology, a move that marks an important step in Japan’s efforts in the field of sustainable aviation fuels.

Chiyoda says it will make full use of its technological capabilities and extensive experience in oil and gas plant engineering accumulated over 70 years, and will contribute to the smooth implementation of the SAF production facility at this complex through the efficient execution of FEED work, actively supporting Japan’s energy transition goals.

In the early morning of 19th December 2024, a B737 all-cargo aircraft of SF Airlines refuelled with Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) took off from Ningbo, successfully completing the first SAF commercial flight of an all-cargo aircraft in China, marking an important step in the green development of cargo aviation.

At the ‘Zero Carbon Future – SAF Flight Inaugural Ceremony’ held in Ningbo, SF was awarded a Carbon Neutral Evaluation Certificate and signed a Letter of Intent on Strategic Cooperation with CECC for SAF Credit Issuance and Certification Services.

The flight demonstrated the latest achievements of SF in green aviation and its determination to practice the low-carbon concept, setting a benchmark for the sustainable development of the aviation logistics industry.

John Wood Group PLC announced on 19 December that it has been awarded a major contract by OMV Petrom for a major project aimed at boosting sustainable fuel production in South East Europe.

Within the scope of the project, the Petrobrazi refinery in Romania will be the first major production facility for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in the region.

The project will utilise Honeywell’s UOP Ecofining™ process technology to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO).

Moeve and easyJet have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to accelerate the decarbonisation of air transport through the promotion of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF), in a joint effort to reduce the carbon footprint of air transport. Under the agreement, easyJet will use SAF on its Spanish route network over a six-year period from 2025 to 2030.

Moeve produces SAF from used cooking oil at its La Rábida Energy Park (Huelva), a second-generation biofuel that reduces CO2 emissions by up to 90 per cent over its entire life cycle compared to conventional paraffin.