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Developed from renewable resources, Australia’s sovereign sustainable fuel industry is expected to help address Australia’s growing demand for jet fuel.
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Boeing and the CSIRO have released their Sustainable Aviation Fuel Roadmap, looking to help deliver sustainable fuel options to address Australia’s growing demand for aviation fuel which is expected to increase by 75 per cent by 2050.
The fuel is developed from renewable sources including agricultural waste, animal fats, and vegetable oils and reducing carbon emissions.
The roadmap also details how hydrogen and CO² can be used as a fuel option in the medium to long term.
The roadmap is expected to identify opportunities to produce the fuel and scale production.
Australian agriculture already produces sufficient resources to produce fuel for hundreds of thousands of flights, CSIRO senior manager and lead author of the roadmap Max Temminghoff said.
“By actively working to liberate feedstocks, the roadmap estimates that Australia is currently sitting on enough resources to produce almost 5 billion litres of SAF by 2025. This could supply nearly 60 per cent of jet fuel demand projected for that year,” Temminghoff explained.
“That’s enough fuel to power 640,000 Melbourne to Sydney return flights on a Boeing 737.
“Through a combination of feedstocks and mature technologies, a large and growing portion of Australia’s jet fuel demand can be met with local materials such as agricultural waste and residues.”
Rolling out the fuel conversion process will facilitate the creation of a new fuel industry in Australia, Temminghoff outlined.
“To convert these feedstocks into viable jet fuel, the report identifies the alcohol-to-Jet and the Fischer-Tropsch process – a process currently conducted at CSIRO’s Perth laboratory – as ideal technology options to propel a sovereign SAF industry.
“But Australian government, industry, and research must work together to overcome key challenges to realise the economic and sustainability benefits of a domestic SAF industry.”
The conversion process is also expected to benefit national security, bolstering Australia’s fuel resilience and reducing Australia’s resilience on increasingly unstable international supply chains.
“The report identified the role the Australian Defence Force could play in kickstarting Australia’s SAF industry and also addressing Australian fuel security challenges,” Heidi Hauf, regional sustainability lead APAC at Boeing and one of the roadmap’s co-authors, said.
“Currently, Australia imports 90 per cent of its liquid fuel, including jet fuel, through long supply chains exposed to geopolitical and climate change risks, and delays associated with quality issues, placing the country in a vulnerable position when it comes to jet fuel security.
“With alternative technologies such as battery and fuel-cell powered planes still limited in long-haul capabilities and the increasing competition for carbon offsets, SAF offers the largest potential for reduced aviation emissions in the near-term.”
