Aviation behemoth Boeing will be an early investor in a sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) production facility to be built in Brisbane.
Wagner Sustainable Fuels will build the facility in a bid to increase Australian SAF supply and reduce aviation’s carbon emissions.
Boeing’s Sustainability Lead for Australia and New Zealand Kimberly Camrass said the investment in the Wagner refinery was part of a strategy to support development of local SAF supply and expand global access to SAF.
Ms Camrass said SAF remained the most effective lever to decarbonize aviation by 2050.
“SAF, which reduces CO2 emissions by up to 84 percent compared to petroleum jet fuel, currently represents 0.1 percent of global jet fuel use,” she said.
“Accelerating local SAF supply enables Australia’s own climate goals and supports the global commercial aviation industry’s commitment of net zero CO₂ emissions by 2050.”
Ms Camrass said SAF facilities such as Wagner’s Brisbane site strengthened Australia’s fuel security, since the country currently imported 90 percent of its liquid fuel including jet fuel and the demand was expected to increase by 75 percent towards 2050.
Wagner Sustainable Fuels Chief Executive Officer Matt Doyle said the partnership with Boeing was a commitment to proactively grow the SAF industry in Australia.
“It will create local jobs, contribute to fuel security and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions from aviation,” Mr Doyle said.
He said Boeing’s investment would support an engineering study for the eventual construction of a SAF refinery, which would use waste-to-SAF technology that converted ethanol produced from waste-based feedstocks, such as industrial waste, into SAF.
