Gov’t incentives needed to scale up SAF Production – IATA

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has called on the Government of Ghana and others on the continent to prioritize policies to incentivize the scaling-up of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) production if aviation is to achieve net zero by 2050.

In 2023, SAF volumes reached over 600 million liters (0.5Mt), double the 300 million liters (0.25 Mt) produced in 2022. IATA data show that every drop of SAF that was produced was bought and used.

Next year, SAF production is expected to triple to 1.875 billion liters (1.5Mt), accounting for 0.53% of aviation’s fuel need, and 6% of renewable fuel capacity. Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General, at a media briefing at IATA’s headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, noted that: “The doubling of SAF production in 2023 was encouraging as is the expected tripling of production expected in 2024. But even with that impressive growth, SAF as a portion of all renewable fuel production will only grow from 3% this year to 6% in 2024. This allocation limits SAF supply and keeps prices high.

Aviation needs between 25% and 30% of renewable fuel production capacity for SAF. At those levels, aviation will be on the trajectory needed to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Until such levels are reached, we will continue missing huge opportunities to advance aviation’s decarbonization.” Ghana and other African countries are yet to tap into this multi-billiondollar industry despite the availability of raw materials for SAF production such as cooking oil, plant oils, wood chips, treated straw, algae, municipal waste, waste gases, and agricultural residue.

For nearly two decades, Ghana has experimented with the production of plant-based sustainable fuels mainly from the Jatropha plant. The technology developed so far, has been only able to produce biodiesel for use by small-scale agro-processing machines.

The setting up of waste treatment plants in Accra and Kumasi by the Jospong Group of Companies holds a lot of promise for Ghana to venture into the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

The raw materials—organic and inorganic waste— abound in a country struggling to contain and properly dispose or reuse the millions of tons of municipal waste across the country.

In Ghana, about 12,710 tons of solid waste is generated daily. The capital city, Accra, generates as much as 15,000 tons of solid waste per day. Research on the waste composition of Ghana’s solid waste in 2020 shows that it is predominantly organic (60%), plastic (14 %), paper (5%), metals (3%), and glass (3%).

Mr. Walsh noted that “it is government policy that will make the difference. Governments must prioritize policies to incentivize the scaling-up of SAF production and to diversify feedstock with those available locally.”