Oneworld airlines have committed to further purchases of sustainable aviation fuel, this time from supplier Gevo.

The new deal sees a commitment to buy up to 200 million gallons from the Colorado-based renewable fuels producer and comes after last December’s offtake deal for 350 million gallons with renewable fuels company Aemetis.

Oneworld members to buy 350 million gallons of SAF for use at San Francisco airport

Delivery of the fuel is expected to commence in 2027, for a five year-term. Oneworld members Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, Japan Airlines and Qatar Airways will use the fuel for operations in California including San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose and Los Angeles International Airports.

Oneworld is aiming for net zero emissions by 2050 and, in October 2021, the alliance committed to a target of 10 per cent SAF by 2030.

The Oneworld airline members are partnering to collectively source SAF, through the alliance’s Environment and Sustainability Board chaired by IAG Head of Sustainability Jonathon Counsell with representation from all member airlines.

Gevo’s SAF is expected to be produced using inedible corn products that will be processed to create ethanol that will then be converted into the fuel and produced at three facilities under development in the Midwest of the United States. The supply chain will be certified by the Roundtable for Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) standard.

Oneworld Chairman and Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker said: “As the aviation industry continues to face new challenges, today’s announcement underlines the positive outcome of the multilateral collaboration between industry stakeholders. It reaffirms the leadership of our alliance in supporting the ambitious aviation decarbonisation targets, as well as our active role in driving the use of ICAO recognised SAF at a commercial scale.”

Oneworld CEO Rob Gurney said: “Five months ago, we committed as an alliance to a target of 10 per cent sustainable aviation fuel by 2030. Today’s announcement of a second major sustainable aviation fuel offtake among member airlines builds further upon that commitment, while demonstrating the value that can be delivered when our member airlines work together.”

“When Oneworld member airlines show they understand the importance of reducing fossil-carbon greenhouse gas emissions, they start making real change in the industry,” said Dr. Patrick R. Gruber, Gevo’s Chief Executive Officer. “Eliminating fossil-based emissions from the life-cycle of jet fuel is our mission. Net-Zero SAF is what we all want. I’m pleased that Oneworld is on board.”

Gevo has developed two alcohol-to-jet pathways that can utilise various feedstocks grown using renewable agricultural and sustainable farming techniques.The company says that it “uses low-carbon renewable resource-based carbohydrates as raw materials, and is in an advanced state of developing renewable electricity and renewable natural gas for use in production processes, resulting in low-carbon fuels with substantially reduced carbon intensity (the level of greenhouse gas emissions compared to standard petroleum fossil-based fuels across their life cycle).”

oneworld.com

gevo.com