In the United States (US), Aemetis, Inc., a leading producer of renewable natural gas (RNG) and renewable fuels, has announced that it has signed an off-take agreement with Finnish national air carrier and oneworld Alliance member Finnair for the supply of 17.5 million (US) gallons (≈ 66.2 million litres) of blended sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to be delivered to San Francisco International Airport (SFO).
Sustainable aviation fuel is seen to provide significant environmental benefits compared to petroleum jet fuel, including a lower lifecycle carbon footprint and reduced contrails.
Scheduled to begin in 2025, and to be delivered over a seven-year term, the blended sustainable aviation fuel to be supplied under this agreement is a 40 percent SAF and 60 percent Petroleum Jet-A blend to meet international standards.
Finnair has set an ambitious long-term target to fly carbon neutral in 2045 and SAF is an important part of the toolkit for reaching this target. Supporting SAF adoption is key to boosting the supply and demand for SAF and for increasing its usage in commercial aviation. The agreement also underlines the oneworld Alliance’s commitment to collectively source SAF, said Eveliina Huurre, SVP Sustainability at Finnair.
Part of oneworld Alliance supply agreement
The SAF is expected to be produced by the Aemetis renewable jet/diesel plant under development on a 125 acre former US Army Ammunition production plant site in Riverbank, California (CA). The value of the contract including incentives is approximately US$70 million.
The supply of sustainable aviation fuel to Finnair is a part of US$2 billion of contracts with oneworld Alliance members to reduce the environmental impact of aviation, stated Eric McAfee, Chairman, and CEO of Aemetis.
Powered by 100 percent renewable electricity, the Aemetis Carbon Zero production plant at the Riverbank plant site is designed to sequester carbon dioxide (CO2) from the production process using injection wells, significantly reducing the carbon intensity (CI) of the renewable fuel.
Our production of low-carbon aviation fuel in California is made possible by the historical success of the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard, creating new investment and jobs in disadvantaged minority communities in the state, ended Eric McAfee.
