Boeing is buying 9.4 million gallons (35.6 million litres) of blended sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to support its 2024 U.S. commercial operations, reducing its carbon emissions and working to help grow the supply of the fuel globally.
This is the company’s largest annual SAF purchase, more than 60% higher than its buy in 2023.
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The blended fuel – 30% SAF made from waste by-products such as fats, oils, and greases and 70% conventional jet fuel – will support the Boeing ecoDemonstrator program and Boeing U.S. commercial operational flights.
“As our focus remains on safety and quality, sustainability continues to be a priority,” said Ryan Faucett, vice president of environmental sustainability at Boeing. “Sustainable aviation fuel is essential to decarbonize aviation. About 20% of our fuel usage is an SAF blend, and we continue to increase our use of this fuel to encourage growth in the SAF industry. We are also working to make SAF more available and affordable to our commercial airline customers through collaboration, investment, research and policy development.”
Unblended, or “neat”, SAF can reduce carbon emissions up to 85% over the fuel’s life cycle and offers the commercial aviation industry’s greatest potential to reduce its climate impact over the next 30 years.
Boeing will receive 4 million gallons of the blended SAF into its fuel farms in the Pacific Northwest. EPIC Fuels, a Signature Aviation company, will supply 2.5 million gallons of Neste’s SAF, and Avfuel will supply 1.5 million gallons of Neste’s blended SAF.
Boeing will also purchase the CO2 emissions reduction associated with 5.4 million gallons of blended SAF through an accounting process called book-and-claim. Book-and-claim is when a company purchases SAF certificates to displace conventional jet fuel. Instead of putting the fuel into a Boeing fuel farm, distributors will deliver it to nearby airports for use by airlines and other carriers.
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Through Boeing’s book-and-claim purchases, EPIC Fuels will supply 3.5 million gallons of blended SAF made by Neste, while World Fuel Services, a World Kinect company, will supply 1.9 million gallons from World Energy.
