5/22/23, 8:21 PM Sustainable Aviation Fuel Is Here. Why That Is a Big Deal.

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Sustainable Aviation Fuel Is Here. Why That Is a

Big Deal.
By Lauren Foster Follow May 10, 2023 7:01 am ET

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Sustainable aviation fuel is set to soar.

Airlines have been flying planes with

United Airlines has begun using small amounts of
sustainable aviation fuel.
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
sustainable aviation fuel—known as
SAF—for years, but adoption has been
slow. Now a new SAF technology is
poised to take off, helping reduce
climate warming carbon emissions
while meeting rising demand for an
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alternative to conventional jet fuel.

No Thanks Allow
Industrial giant Honeywell (ticker: HON) on Wednesday announced a new technology
for producing low-carbon sustainable aviation fuel that the company says can reduce

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greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 90% compared with conventional jet fuel. 

Lucian Boldea, CEO of Honeywell Performance Materials and Technologies, said

creating technologies that use new raw materials “is vital” to the long-term
decarbonization of the aviation sector. 

In 2021, aviation produced more than 2% of global energy-related carbon-dioxide

(CO2) emissions, according to the International Energy Agency. That figure is likely to
rise as more people take to the skies as travel picks up again after the pandemic
slowdown.

SAF is an electricity-based fuel. eFuels are made from renewable energy, green
hydrogen, and CO2 captured from the atmosphere, or an industrial or biogenic source,
according to HIF Global, an eFuels company. 

SAF is produced from sustainable sources, known as feedstocks, including trash, used
cooking oil, and biomass material from trees and shrubs. It can be blended with
conventional jet fuel without the need for the airline to change aircraft technology or
fuel infrastructure.

Honeywell’s newest technology uses CO2, water, and green energy, whether that’s
solar or wind, Boldea told Barron’s. “You are powering the same airplane that you’re
flying today on recovered CO2, water, and on solar or wind energy.”
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The SAF technology “is one of the many arrows in Honeywell’s quiver for solving
greenhouse gas reductions for society,” Boldea said. Honeywell has pledged to be
carbon neutral in its facilities and operations by 2035. 

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HIF Global, which develops projects to produce carbon-neutral fuels with green
hydrogen and recycled CO2, on Wednesday said it would start “preliminary
engineering” to produce SAF using Honeywell’s technology. The facility will produce
about 11,000 barrels a day of SAF, decarbonizing more than 12 billion air passenger
miles a year, according to the company.

Meg Gentle, executive director of HIF Global, said eFuels, are a replacement for fossil
fuels and “a necessary solution for decarbonizing global transportation.”

Demand for SAF is growing. In 2021, the Biden Administration announced a SAF
“grand challenge” for the U.S. aviation fuel supply sector to increase the production of
SAF to at least 3 billion gallons a year by 2030. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 also
included tax credits for SAF.

Airlines are stepping up their commitment to using more SAF. This week, DHL Aviation,
the in-house airline of DHL Express, said it is launching a new optional GoGreen Plus
service for its air cargo product. The new service will allow customers to reduce the
carbon emissions associated with their cargo using SAF.

In March, United Airlines (UAL) introduced its new “chief trash officer, Oscar the
Grouch” as part of its campaign to invest “in a future where planes can be fueled by
things like waste.” The airline said “SAF is the fastest and most effective way we’re
reducing life cycle emissions across our fleet, which is why we’ve invested in more SAF
production than any other airline.” But the airline acknowledged “SAF is less than 0.1% Get the latest news and updates from Barron's
of United’s overall fuel use.”  

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In a statement accompanying Honeywell’s announcement, Michael Leskinen,

president of United Airlines Ventures, the company’s venture fund, said the airline
“strongly supports the development of new technologies” that can help bring more
SAF to market. 

Write to Lauren Foster at lauren.foster@barrons.com

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