Photo: Shell Aviation
Project Ulysses is the name of an ambitious project aiming to put Australia's SAF (sustainable aviation fuel) industry on the map. The name behind it is Jet Zero Australia, supported by some of the heaviest industry players, including Qantas, Airbus, and the Japanese energy conglomerate Idemitsu.
According to Jet Zero, SAF offers seven times the energy density of the best batteries and four times that of liquid hydrogen. This makes it one of the most promising solutions for zero-emission aviation. The only problem is that there isn't enough of it to support regular commercial flights. At the moment, there's still not enough SAF available around the world, which also makes it expensive. This is why Australia, like many other countries, is fighting to set up a domestic SAF-producing industry.
Project Ulysses aims to produce 102 million liters of SAF and 11 million liters of renewable diesel every year. It's Jet Zero Australia's flagship project based on the ATJ (Alcohol-to-Jet) technology. The facility that will be located in the Townsville State Development Area (SDA) in North Queensland will basically convert bioethanol obtained from agricultural byproducts into SAF and renewable diesel.
The project is ready to enter the next phase after having completed the feasibility study that was initiated back in 2022. Another recent milestone has to do with finances. Jet Zero secured AUD $29 million ($19 million), which will help it further develop Project Ulysses. In addition to Qantas and Airbus, who are Jet Zero's foundational investors, another big name joined the club. Idemitsu, a Japanese energy giant, decided to select this as its first SAF project outside of Japan.
The support from Idemitsu also shows the impact of SAF production prospects all around the world. Like many other countries in different parts of the world, Japan also plans to replace a tenth of its total jet fuel consumption with SAF by the end of this decade. Securing a strong SAF supply chain is an important part of that plan, as well as the efforts to establish a domestic SAF industry.
This milestone comes after Qantas and Airbus first announced their Sustainable Aviation Fuel Partnership back in 2022. That's when the two partners agreed to future investments of up to $200 million, starting with $2 million for a new production plant in Queensland, Australia. The project would obviously benefit Qantas, who plans to use most of the new facility's SAF to fuel an increasing number of flights.
At the moment, the airline still has to rely mostly on overseas suppliers, with a negative impact on overall costs. The goal is to reach a regular use of 10% SAF in its overall fuel mix by the end of the decade, and Project Ulysses is an important step towards that.
Project Ulysses aims to produce 102 million liters of SAF and 11 million liters of renewable diesel every year. It's Jet Zero Australia's flagship project based on the ATJ (Alcohol-to-Jet) technology. The facility that will be located in the Townsville State Development Area (SDA) in North Queensland will basically convert bioethanol obtained from agricultural byproducts into SAF and renewable diesel.
The project is ready to enter the next phase after having completed the feasibility study that was initiated back in 2022. Another recent milestone has to do with finances. Jet Zero secured AUD $29 million ($19 million), which will help it further develop Project Ulysses. In addition to Qantas and Airbus, who are Jet Zero's foundational investors, another big name joined the club. Idemitsu, a Japanese energy giant, decided to select this as its first SAF project outside of Japan.
The support from Idemitsu also shows the impact of SAF production prospects all around the world. Like many other countries in different parts of the world, Japan also plans to replace a tenth of its total jet fuel consumption with SAF by the end of this decade. Securing a strong SAF supply chain is an important part of that plan, as well as the efforts to establish a domestic SAF industry.
This milestone comes after Qantas and Airbus first announced their Sustainable Aviation Fuel Partnership back in 2022. That's when the two partners agreed to future investments of up to $200 million, starting with $2 million for a new production plant in Queensland, Australia. The project would obviously benefit Qantas, who plans to use most of the new facility's SAF to fuel an increasing number of flights.
At the moment, the airline still has to rely mostly on overseas suppliers, with a negative impact on overall costs. The goal is to reach a regular use of 10% SAF in its overall fuel mix by the end of the decade, and Project Ulysses is an important step towards that.
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