RENEWABLE ENERGY
What is SAF? Sustainable Aviation Fuel, or SAF, is a broad term for non-fossil-derived fuels that can be blended with, or replace, conventional jet fuel. Most SAF today is produced from biomass, such as used cooking oil, agricultural residues or even municipal waste.
“ In order to make SAF, it all starts with a CO₂ absorption,” explains Julien.“ The biomass, when it grows, absorbs CO₂. Then you process that biomass into your biofuel. And when you burn the fuel, the CO₂ is released again. So you’ re working effectively in a closed loop where you’ re using CO₂ that is already in the atmosphere.”
This is fundamentally different from fossil fuels, which Julien says“ pull carbon from the soil and release it back into the atmosphere, where it stays for centuries”.
SAF, when produced and sourced responsibly, can reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80 % compared to conventional jet fuel.
The development of SAF SAF’ s journey from concept to commercialisation has been long and complex.
“ What we did together with the industry is to make sure that we could make this synthetic fuel flyable,” says Julien.
120 June 2025