Photo: Neste
With hydrogen still a long way from fueling regular commercial or even military flights, SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel) is heralded as the best solution for green aviation that’s available here and now. One of the bumps in the road, however, is the production of SAF, which is still at insufficient levels. However, this market keeps growing, as a recent TMR (Transparent Market Research) shows.
The SAF market could reach a $402 billion value by 2050, according to a recent study conducted by TMR. This would be the result of a compound annual growth rate of 26.2% between 2022 and 2050.
One of the most interesting insights of this study confirms that Europe was the dominant region in the overall market in 2021, meaning that it had the largest share of the SAF market. That’s important, because it shows the role that regulations play. According to the study, the strict energy regulations that were implemented in European countries, in particular Germany and the UK, pushed an increased demand for SAF in the aviation industry. In return, this helped the market grow significantly.
North America is the second-largest player on the market. In both the U.S. and Canada, collaborations between government agencies and various industry stakeholders also gave SAF production a boost.
In September 2021, United Airlines claimed to have initiated the biggest SAF purchase agreement in aviation history. The operator agreed to buy 1.5 billion gallons of SAF, over a period of 20 years, from Alder Fuels. Using Honeywell’s Ecofining process, Alder intends to produce high-performance green jet fuel that will also be low-cost.
More recently, Rolls-Royce also announced that it’s working with Neste on the implementation of sustainable fuels for diesel engines, with a focus on aviation but not limited to that. Neste is another important player in this sector, claiming to be the largest SAF producer in the world, with a capacity of 3.3 million tons per year.
At the moment, SAF is still considered an expensive alternative with limited availability, but things are slowly changing, and the U.S. might even catch up with Europe in the near future.
One of the most interesting insights of this study confirms that Europe was the dominant region in the overall market in 2021, meaning that it had the largest share of the SAF market. That’s important, because it shows the role that regulations play. According to the study, the strict energy regulations that were implemented in European countries, in particular Germany and the UK, pushed an increased demand for SAF in the aviation industry. In return, this helped the market grow significantly.
North America is the second-largest player on the market. In both the U.S. and Canada, collaborations between government agencies and various industry stakeholders also gave SAF production a boost.
In September 2021, United Airlines claimed to have initiated the biggest SAF purchase agreement in aviation history. The operator agreed to buy 1.5 billion gallons of SAF, over a period of 20 years, from Alder Fuels. Using Honeywell’s Ecofining process, Alder intends to produce high-performance green jet fuel that will also be low-cost.
More recently, Rolls-Royce also announced that it’s working with Neste on the implementation of sustainable fuels for diesel engines, with a focus on aviation but not limited to that. Neste is another important player in this sector, claiming to be the largest SAF producer in the world, with a capacity of 3.3 million tons per year.
At the moment, SAF is still considered an expensive alternative with limited availability, but things are slowly changing, and the U.S. might even catch up with Europe in the near future.
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