Japan Airlines announced on May 1 that it has supplied nationally produced sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for the first time to a passenger flight at Kansai International Airport (KIX), Japan Airlines Flight JL891 (Kansai to Shanghai Pudong).

According to the airline, SAF supplier Saffaire Sky Energy LLC has received ISCC CORSIA certification for the first time in Japan.

The certified SAF is mass-produced at the manufacturing facility located at the Cosmo Oil Sakai refinery.

The airline said the domestic SAF supply chain has officially begun operations with the successful supply to passenger flights.

In the aviation industry, ICAO has set a target to reduce emissions from international flights by 15 percent from 2019 levels from 2024 onwards, and to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Cosmo Oil Marketing, a subsidiary of Cosmo Energy Holdings, has signed a basic agreement with Starlux Airlines to promote sustainable aviation transport through the supply of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).

The SAF involved under this agreement was commercialized with subsidies from the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) in 2021, aiming to establish a domestic supply chain model using waste cooking oil in Japan.

Cosmo Energy highlights that this SAF is the first domestically produced and mass-produced SAF in Japan, certified under ISCC CORSIA and ISCC EU standards. The fuel will be produced by SAFFAIRE SKY ENERGY LLC, a joint venture between Cosmo Oil, JGC Holdings, and REVO International. Supply to Starlux Airlines at Kobe Airport is scheduled to begin in fiscal year 2025 through the Cosmo Energy Group.

Bin Zayed International (BZI), the UAE’s largest investment group, will invest $500 million (about RM2.188 billion) to build a Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) refinery at Port Klang, partnering with Malaysia’s FatHopes Energy (FHE).

The project aims to help Malaysia achieve an annual SAF production target of 1 million tonnes, positioning the country as a regional clean energy hub. Construction is expected to begin within 12 months, with operations targeted for early 2026.

The refinery will have an initial capacity of 300,000 tonnes per year, using mainly waste and residual oils, and will adopt Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA) technology. Output will serve both domestic and international markets.

BZI Managing Director Dato’ Sri Shamir Ghuma said the investment reflects the group’s commitment to sustainable development. Malaysia’s Natural Resources Minister Nik Nazmi added the project will boost Malaysia’s energy security, reduce import reliance, and contribute to national net-zero goals.

BZI will also acquire a strategic stake in FHE to ensure long-term collaboration and innovation. Full commercial operations are expected by 2029.

April 24 – Total Energy has announced plans to restructure its petrochemicals business at its refinery in Antwerp, Belgium. One of the planned changes is to increase sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production capacity through co-processing.

According to Total Energy, the initial SAF project in Antwerp is expected to achieve a capacity of 50,000 tons/year of SAF.SAF will be produced through co-processing, a production method that enables the simultaneous processing of hydrocarbons and biomass in a conventional refinery unit.Production of SAF is expected to begin later this year.

April 24th, Taiwan’s CNPC cooperated with the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) to pilot the plan of importing 1,000 tons of SAF, and added flights for the first time on April 23rd, symbolizing that SAF set sail.

The import of SAF is just the beginning, Taoyuan Refinery is preparing for the SAF refining process, and it is expected that after the completion of the catalyst import, it will be able to start its own production of SAF in the second quarter of next year, and then it will be batch-matched with production according to the customer’s demand.

Marubeni Corporation recently announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Japan Airlines, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, China Timber Corporation, The Boeing Company, and the Ohayashi Group to initiate a pre-commercialization pre-feasibility study for the manufacture and sale of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), Bio-Naphtha and Renewable Diesel using forest residues in Japan.

The study plans to use Cat-HTR™ technology developed by Australian technology company Licella, an advanced hydrothermal liquefaction platform that converts wood residues into bio-intermediate oil. The bio-oil will then be reprocessed and refined for the production of SAF, bio-naphtha and renewable diesel, thereby establishing a local green fuel supply chain in Japan and realizing the “local production, local sales” model.

The study will evaluate the economic feasibility of the project, analyzing the feedstock supply and processing system, production process, product logistics and carbon reduction. The study is expected to continue until December this year, with commercialization planned for around 2030, depending on the progress of the study.

The participants will pool their expertise and experience to promote the production of sustainable products in Japan, create new industries centered on forest resources, and contribute to local revitalization. By promoting the recycling of forest resources, the project also hopes to address current issues facing Japan’s forestry industry, such as carbon fixation, water conservation, and disaster prevention.

According to Marubeni, Japan’s rich forest resources have extensive development potential, especially the large amount of mesquite and residue produced during the wood utilization process, which is expected to become an important source of sustainable raw materials. In addition, with the rise of large-scale wooden buildings, the opportunity to utilize the related wood residue resources will also increase.

According to Bloomberg, BP has decided to suspend its Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) production expansion project at its Castellón refinery in Spain. The project was originally part of BP’s $2.2 billion decarbonization plan announced in 2023 to promote low-carbon fuels.

Sources familiar with the matter said that BP made the adjustment mainly because the SAF market has not developed as expected, and demand growth has been slow, which has put the economics of the expansion plan into question.

In fact, in February this year, BP has announced that it will significantly reduce the proportion of investment in renewable energy, the future will be more resources reconfigured to oil and gas and other traditional energy business. This strategic shift means that its “transition to net zero” target pace will be further slowed.

BP’s move reflects that, even in the context of the global green transition calls for more and more, SAF and other emerging energy markets are still facing policy, cost, technology and demand for multiple challenges of uncertainty.

On April 9, Aviation LLC, a subsidiary of Kazakhstan’s National Oil Company (NOC), LanzaJet, a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) technology company, and KazFoodProducts LLP (KFP), an agro-industrial holding company, formally signed an agreement to initiate a feasibility study for the construction of an SAF plant in Kazakhstan.

The pre-feasibility study for the project was successfully completed in 2024, and the main feasibility study is currently being progressed and is expected to be completed by the end of 2025, according to the report. During this period, the partners will conduct a comprehensive assessment of core elements such as site selection, capacity scale and raw material supply, and provide support for the final investment decision.

As an important energy country in Central Asia, Kazakhstan’s vigorous layout of sustainable fuels may bring new variables to the global SAF industry chain, and LanzaJet’s participation in the project highlights its internationalization and technological advancement, which is worth the industry’s continued attention.

Neste Corp., a producer of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), announced April 9 that it has begun producing SAF at its biorefinery in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

The refinery has been retrofitted to produce up to 500,000 tons of SAF per year, or approximately 165 million gallons.

As a result, Neste’s global SAF production capacity has been increased to 1.5 million tons per year, or approximately 495 million gallons.

This will make the Rotterdam refinery the largest renewable diesel and SAF production facility in the world.

The expansion, which is scheduled to be completed in 2027, will bring Neste’s total global renewable fuel production capacity to 6.8 million tons per year, of which Neste’s total SAF production capacity will be 2.2 million tons per year.