The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is encouraging local businesses to make more use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
The SAF is an environmentally sustainable alternative to fossil jet fuel sourced from a variety of materials including used vegetable oils, household waste, waste gases, animal fats, forestry residue and even carbon dioxide captured directly from the air.
In a report dated January 17, 2023, the USDA said that among local airlines, Cebu Pacific started using SAF in its Airbus 320neo, with its SAF-using ninth aircraft received on January 1, 2023 from the Airbus Hamburg facility in Germany.
The report further said the SAF can be used as a direct replacement for fossil jet fuel as it is chemically similar and can be safely mixed with regular jet fuel to varying degrees and proven to be compatible with existing jet engines and fueling infrastructure, requiring no additional investment while also not causing any negative impact on performance or maintenance.
Citing data from the International Air Transportation Association (IATA), SAF can cut the carbon intensity of air travel by up to 80 percent over its life cycle.
“In the Philippines, aviation fuel consumption reached its peak of 2.8 billion liters in 2019. When Covid-19 pandemic disrupted transportation in 2020, jet fuel consumption went down by 65 percent and continued to slow down in 2021. From a 10 percent share in total consumption in 2019, aviation fuel went down to only four percent share in 2021,” the report said.
“The aviation industry started to recover in 2022 and demand for jet fuel is on its way to reach the pre-pandemic level providing much opportunity for SAF as a better fuel for decarbonization,” the USDA said.
The report said Cebu Pacific first used SAF in May 2022 when it delivered its third A330neo from Toulouse, France, using 35 percent blended SAF with the company seeking to further utilize the fuel by launching “green routes” in approximately three years.
The USDA said Philippine Airlines (PAL) is also working to develop sustainable fuel for its airline fleet as the company supports the zero-emission initiative of the IATA.
Apart from SAF, PAL is also shifting to renewable energy for the power requirement of its major offices.
The USDA also expressed optimism on the wider use of SAF in the Philippines as Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc. recently established a new subsidiary for its waste-to-fuel program developed in partnership with US-based WasteFuel Global, which is a SAF start-up looking to have its first biorefinery in the country.
WasteFuel Philippines is evaluating the feasibility of putting up a $600 million biorefinery in Luzon that would convert one million metric tons of municipal waste into 30 million gallons of SAF annually.
The USDA similarly said the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines’ (CAAP) collaboration with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to address aviation’s impact on the environment is also seen to further push the use of SAF.
At present, the SAF is not specifically mentioned in the Renewable Energy Act and Biofuels Act of the Philippines. The USDA said the Department of Energy can play a role in its wider spread utilization.
