Sustainable Aviation Fuel is a new transformative industry for Australia.
We’ve been getting a lot of really important questions from the community and interested parties.
Let us know in our Contact Centre if you have any questions that we haven’t answered below.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel, otherwise known as SAF, is produced from sustainably certified feedstocks such as agricultural byproducts, used cooking oils and tallow, to name a few.
SAF can reduce the lifecycle CO2 emissions by up to 80% compared to fossil jet fuel. The key to SAF’s impact lies in its lifecycle. Traditional jet fuel comes from fossil fuel which are extracted out of the ground and releases carbon into the air. SAF uses carbon that is part of the current carbon lifecycle in various feedstocks. This means that the CO2 emitted during an aircraft’s flight is re-absorbed by the biomass used in SAF production.
Source: IATA
Yes! Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) meets or exceeds the jet fuel standards for use. Meaning it is as safe or safer than traditional fossil-based jet fuel.
More information on the standards that SAF meets can be found here on the International Aviation Travel Association (IATA) website.
If you’ve travelled internationally recently then it’s highly likely that you’ve already travelled on a plane using Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). In 2023 alone there were more than 490,000 flights powered by a blend of SAF and traditional jet fuel.
SAF usage will continue to expand as the world moves towards Net Zero so you’ll likely be flying on SAF a lot more in the coming years. We’re aiming to be providing SAF to the Australian market by 2027 so you’ll likely fly on our SAF in the near future.
Australia currently imports around 85% of our jet fuel.
All jet fuel currently supplied to the Australian market is fossil-based.
Our aim is to help Australia become a fuel producing superpower not reliant on imported liquid fuels as we currently are.
Jet Zero Australia is committed to providing the Australian market Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) by 2027.
We see ourselves as industry leaders in Australia and want to encourage the growth of the industry as quickly as possible.
Currently no one!
There are no producers of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) here in Australia producing SAF for commercial use.
Jet Zero Australia has named Townsville as the site of our first project called Project Ulysses.
The Project Ulysses facility will produce around 113 million litres of sustainable liquid fuel per year from agricultural by-products.
We have great port access at our Townsville facility and expect our SAF to be sold in various Australian airports.
Jet Zero Australia is committed to delivering Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) to the Australian market as soon as reasonably possible.
We are progressing numerous projects all at different stages in the project lifecycle. Project Ulysses, our flagship and most advanced project is aiming to produce SAF here in Australia by 2027.
Jet Zero Australia’s Project Ulysses facility will utilise Alcohol-to-Jet (ATJ) Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) technology. The feedstock of bioethanol will be produced from Australian agricultural by-products here in Australia. We will then take this and convert it into SAF and renewable diesel (RD).
SAF produced through the ATJ method was commercialised by our key technology partner LanzaJet with their Freedom Pines Fuels Plant in Georgia, USA. Freedom Pines opened earlier this year and we’re learning from its operation to create a 3-times scaled up version here in Australia, capable of producing 113 million litres of renewable liquid fuels per year.
Find out more about LanzaJet’s Freedom Pines Fuels Facility here: lanzajet.com/freedom-pines
Jet Zero Australia is primarily focusing on the production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). However, we will also be producing renewable diesel (RD) an important carbon abatement tool for heavy transport in Australia and internationally. RD can be used in mining, rail, and maritime as a “drop-in” fuel requiring no engine or system modifications before use making it an incredibly versatile fuel.
Project Ulysses, our flagship initial project, is expected to produce 102 million litres of SAF and 11 million litres of RD per year up in Townsville to be used here in Australia.
Last updated: 1st August 2024
