Sustainable Aviation Buyers Alliance to buy SAF credits

The Sustainable Aviation Buyers Alliance (SABA) has announced that its members will collectively purchase sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) certificates, allowing organisations to buy scope 3 emissions credits.

Members such as Bank of America, Boston Consulting (BCG), JPMorgan Chase, Meta and clean energy non-profit RMI will buy certificates for nearly 850,000 gallons (2,576t) of SAF, with each certificate equivalent to 1t of the biofuel. The organisations will do so in what SABA describes as their first joint procurement.

The SAF will be produced by low-carbon fuel producer World Energy for the US low-cost carrier JetBlue and is estimated to cut CO2 emissions by 8,500t or 84pc compared to conventional jet fuel on a life cycle basis.

The organisations that bought the SAF certificates will pay some or all of the premium associated with SAF. Funds from the sales will be also used to increase purchases of SAF.

The certificates seek to standardise and create transparency for the accounting and reporting of certified greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions and to encourage SAF production, which would influence the fuel's cost competitiveness relative to conventional jet fuel.

SABA has also announced that it will launch a second procurement process after the first procurement is successfully completed, with the alliance seeking to purchase 10 times more SAF certificates across a five-year period. This process will be open to all airlines and fuel providers.

SABA will also pilot a new digital registry to bring more transparency, consistency and integrity for SAF certificates.

SABA was launched in 2021 by RMI and the US Environmental Defense Fund with the goal to accelerate the path to net zero aviation. Its founding members include Bank of America, BCG, Meta, Deloitte, Microsoft and JetBlue.

World Energy currently produces 144,000 t/yr of SAF in Paramount, California with a 576,000 t/yr refinery going on line in 2024 in the same location. Another upcoming 720,000 t/yr plant located in Houston, Texas will begin operations in 2025. All sites use the hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids pathway for SAF production.

By Ryan Ang