Cathay Pacific has today announced the signing of an offtake agreement with Aemetis to purchase 38 million U.S. gallons of SAF at San Francisco International Airport from 2025. The agreement is part of the airline’s commitment to achieve 10 percent SAF usage by 2030.
On Tuesday (September 20, 2022), Cathay Pacific announced the signing of an offtake agreement with Aemetis for the purchase of 38 million U.S. gallons of SAF at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) from 2025. The agreement is part of the carrier’s strategy to achieve 10 percent SAF usage by 2030. The SAF purchase will reduce over 80,000 tons of lifecycle carbon emissions, the equivalent of the amount of carbon sequestered by 1.3 million tree seedlings grown for 10 years. The deal is also part of oneworld’s joint procurement initiative for SAF, of which Cathay Pacific is a founding member.
In Tuesday’s announcement, Cathay Pacific’s Chief Executive Officer, Augustus Tang, said,
“Cathay Pacific continues to reaffirm its commitment to addressing climate change despite these challenging times. In the past few years, we have announced our carbon net-zero by 2050 target and our goal of achieving 10% use of SAF by 2030. In doing this, we have built a robust SAF procurement strategy to help meet our goals. We are pleased that this agreement with Aemetis will contribute to that effort, and we hope it will also send the right signal to the SAF industry to encourage the much-needed investment and scaling up of its supply chain.”
Also commenting on the SAF agreement, Aemetis’ Chairman and CEO, Eric McAfee, added,
“The use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel by Cathay Pacific is another step by the oneworld Alliance towards lowering the environmental impact of aviation. Sustainable Aviation Fuel is an immediate solution to the decarbonisation of air travel and cargo flights, without requiring extensive new fueling infrastructure or the expensive replacement of planes.”
Under the deal, the blended SAF from Aemetis will include 40 percent SAF and 60 percent Jet A-1 fuel to meet international blended standards, and the fuel will be produced at the Aemetis carbon Zero plant under development in Riverdale, California. The facility will use waste wood to produce cellulosic hydrogen and combine it with waste and non-edible sustainable oils, which will then be converted to SAF using carbon-neutral hydroelectricity.
Source: Cathay Pacific