ABC 2023 – what progress in SAF commercialization?
The Swedish Bioenergy Association (Svebio) is organizing the 9th Advanced Biofuels Conference (ABC 2023) which provides you with the latest on renewable transportation fuels, novel technologies and policy developments. Meet the leading players and experts from around the world, on-site or online.
Of all the modes of transportation, aviation is undoubtedly the most challenging to decarbonize, perhaps the hardest of the “hard-to-decarbonize” sectors. Without negating progress being made on hybrid-electric and battery powered aircraft, for long-haul flights, energy dense liquid fuels remain as the option for the foreseeable future. Current ASTM International regulations permit up to a 50 percent blend of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in fossil Jet A/A-1 depending on the SAF type and production pathway, while work toward 100 percent SAF is underway.
Driven by blend mandates, “moon-shot” ambitions, and public perception, global SAF production has increased remarkedly, from around 10 million litres in 2018 to over 1 billion litres by the end of 2023 according to an IEA Bioenergy report. According to figures from Statista, global fuel consumption by commercial airlines reached an all-time high of 95 billion gallons (≈360 billion litres) in 2019only to drop to 52 billion gallons (≈197 billion litres) in 2020 on account of COVID-19. In 2021, fuel consumption reached 60 billion gallons (≈227 billion litres) and is expected to keep rising to an estimated 80 billion gallons (≈303 billion litres) in 2023.
Commercial airlines have gone from one-engine SAF test flights to investing in SAF technology start-ups, demo-plants, and first-of-its-kind commercial plantssecuring SAF offtakes. Refinery-scale capacity is coming onstream – both new dedicated biorefineries and retrofitted fossil production assets – while (oil) refiners’ partner with feedstock suppliers.
The latter is a crunch point. As the IEA Bioenergy report points out, the vast majority of this capacity is based on using animal fats and (used) vegetable oils in the hydrotreated esters and fatty acids (HEFA) pathway. A limited feedstock that can also be used to produce renewable diesel (HVO). However, there are several other ASTM approved pathways including various alcohols – Methanol-to-Jet (MtJ), Ethanol-to-Jet (EtJ), and Alcohol-to-Jet (AtJ). Which other production pathways are available now and in the near future? What potential do these have to contribute to an estimated 150 billion litre per annum neat SAF demand?
Hear from Dr Jack Saddler, Professor of Biofuels/Bioenergy and Dean Emeritus at the University of British Columbia (UBC) who will discuss “progress in commercialization of biojet/SAF” technologies, potential and challenges. Dr Saddler is one of the co-authors of the said IEA Bioenergy Task 39 report.
This is what you can expect at ABC 2023
For more information, please contact the Conference Director,
Mr Tomas Ekbom, +46-8-441 70 83, abc@svebio.se P.S Records of previous Advanced Biofuels Conferences. ![]() |