SINGAPORE – Singapore plans to require all flights departing from the country to use sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) starting in 2026, Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat said on Feb 19, as the city state joins the global aviation industry’s efforts to switch to greener fuel.

SAF, or alternative fuel made from renewable sources used to power aircraft, is crucial for the aviation sector to reach its goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, but its adoption remains in a nascent phase.

Here is a look at SAF projects and agreements in the Asia-Pacific region.

Malaysia

Malaysia has established an SAF blending mandate starting with 1 per cent, according to the National Energy Transition Roadmap published by the government in 2023. It is targeting a 47 per cent SAF blending mandate by 2050.

Malaysian state oil company Petronas and Japan’s second-biggest oil refiner, Idemitsu Kosan, signed a preliminary agreement to collaborate on development and distribution of SAF in October 2023.

Petronas and Malaysia’s palm oil board also signed an agreement to study the use of cooking oil and palm oil waste as SAF in August 2023.

Malaysia Aviation Group signed an SAF offtake agreement with Petronas Dagangan – Petronas’ domestic marketing arm – as part of efforts to develop the green fuel on a commercial scale in Malaysia, in May 2023.

India

India aims to have 1 per cent SAF in aircraft turbine fuel by 2027, doubling it to 2 per cent in 2028, the government said in November 2023. The SAF targets will initially apply to international flights.

Indian Oil Corp will set up an 80,000 metric tonne-per-year SAF plant with sustainable fuel tech company LanzaJet in Haryana state, the refiner’s chairman said in 2023. Indian Oil has a tie-up with LanzaTech for converting waste gas into ethanol and jet fuel.

Singapore

Singapore announced on Feb 19 it would aim for a 1 per cent SAF target starting in 2026 and plans to raise it to 3 per cent to 5 per cent by 2030, subject to global developments and the wider availability and adoption of SAF.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) plans to introduce an SAF levy for the purchase of the fuel to be set at a fixed quantum, based on the SAF target and projected SAF price at the time.

Singapore Airlines (SIA), CAAS and investment platform GenZero completed a 20-month SAF pilot initiative in November 2023 and found that although Singapore is operationally ready to supply SAF, more is needed to support its adoption.

Asset manager Keppel and energy producer AM Green signed a memorandum of understanding in December 2023 to explore opportunities to produce biogenic carbon-based sustainable fuels, including SAF.

SIA began a one-year SAF pilot programme in July 2022, working with ExxonMobil and Neste. The companies blended 1,000 tonnes of neat SAF with jet fuel and supplied the oil to SIA and Scoot at Changi Airport. Finnish refiner Neste operates the city state’s only SAF plant.

China

There is no set SAF mandate in China as at February, although its Civil Aviation Administration said in its 2022 road map that carbon emissions in the sector will peak by 2035.

China’s National Energy Administration announced in November 2023 that it would launch pilot projects to spur domestic production and consumption of biofuels, including SAF and biodiesel. It did not provide details on funding and timing.

In December 2023, China’s State Power Investment Corp announced a plan to produce 400,000 tonnes a year of SAF in northern Heilongjiang province. The plant will start as a pilot project with 10,000 tonnes a year, the company said. It is slated to produce its first batch of fuel in late 2025 and expand to 400,000 tonnes by 2030, according to an executive familiar with the plans.

In April 2023, Airbus and the China National Aviation Fuel Group signed a memorandum of understanding to increase production and use of SAF. US industrial conglomerate Honeywell in 2023 signed agreements to jointly produce SAF with northern China’s Tianjin Free Trade Zone, and in 2022 with southern Guangdong-based Oriental Energy Company, according to Honeywell and the state-run CGTN news service. The Guangdong facility will produce one million tonnes a year of SAF, Honeywell said, without giving a timeline.

Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways set a target in March 2023 to use SAF for 10 per cent of its fuel by 2030. In October 2022, an A320neo Airbus aircraft departed from Tianjin and landed in Xi’an using a 5 per cent SAF blend, with SAF produced locally by Sinopec subsidiary Zhenhai Refining & Chemical (Zhenhai Refining), China Daily reported. In July 2023, an Air China flight from Hangzhou to Beijing marked China’s first use of SAF in a commercial flight, with a 10 per cent SAF blend, according to CGTN.

Japan

Japan is mandating that 10 per cent of aviation fuel for international flights using Japanese airports be sustainable from 2030, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in May 2023.

Nippon Paper Industries, Sumitomo and Green Earth Institute agreed in February 2023 to jointly study production of bioethanol from woody biomass. The project, if it succeeds, aims to produce bioethanol from Nippon Paper’s mills in fiscal year 2027 to be used as feedstock for SAF production.

Fuji Oil began planning production of bio-SAF at Sodegaura Refinery with trading house Itochu in May 2023.

Petroleum giant Eneos Holdings agreed to study production of up to 500 million litres (3.1 million barrels) of SAF and renewable diesel a year jointly with Australian refiner Ampol.

Japan’s top airlines, All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines, have expanded their SAF purchases by adding supplies from Itochu and US producer Raven SR. Other companies exploring SAF production in Japan include Mitsubishi, Boeing and TotalEnergies.

SAF is set to replace 10 per cent, or 1.34 million kilolitres, of fuel used by Japanese airline companies by 2030, according to the Japan Transport and Tourism Research Institute.

Philippines

There is no set SAF mandate in the Philippines as at February.

Cebu Pacific flew a plane from Singapore to Manila powered by a 35 per cent SAF blend from Neste in September 2022.

The airline signed a long-term strategic partnership with Shell Eastern Petroleum to make SAF more widely available for its fleet via the supply and purchase of SAF in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East, with an initial volume of at least 25,000 metric tonnes a year.

Australia

There is no set SAF mandate in Australia as at February. Qantas Group launched the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Coalition in collaboration with Australia Post, KPMG Australia, Macquarie Group, the local arm of Boston Consulting Group and Woodside Energy on Nov 11, 2022. Qantas and Airbus will jointly invest A$2 million (S$1.76 million) in a biofuel refinery being set up in Australia’s Queensland state that would convert agricultural by-products into SAF.

The refinery is expected to produce up to 100 million litres of SAF a year, with construction due to start in 2024. This is the first investment from a US$200 million (S$269 million) fund Qantas and Airbus set up in June 2023 to kick off the SAF industry in Australia.

The airline expects about 10 per cent of its fuel to come from SAF by 2030, and 60 per cent by 2050.

In November 2023, Climate Leaders Coalition members Ampol, Brisbane Airport, Deloitte, Qantas and Viva Energy proposed the establishment of an East Coast SAF corridor in their Scope 3 Roadmap.

Australia’s first Jet Zero-style council, modelled on the eponymous government-industry partnership for SAF production in Britain, met twice since its formation in June 2023, according to the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts.

The council will complement the Aviation White Paper, which is expected to wrap up in early 2024.

New Zealand

There is no set SAF mandate in New Zealand as at February.

Fuel infrastructure company Channel Infrastructure NZ’s scoping study for green hydrogen and synthetic sustainable aviation fuel production at Marsden Point is moving to the pre-feasibility phase, supported by the government’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority.

Air New Zealand and the New Zealand government plan to invest more than NZ$2 million (S$1.65 million) in SAF studies, with the second stage of SAF feasibility work continuing into early 2024. REUTERS