EcoCeres, SF Group, CNAF collaborate to advance low-carbon air-cargo development in China
- EcoCeres Inc.
- 35 minutes ago
- 2 min read
To accelerate the decarbonization of China’s air-cargo sector, Hong Kong-based EcoCeres announced Aug. 11 that it has partnered with SF Group and China National Aviation Fuel Group to launch a customized sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) commercial fueling program, in collaboration with the Second Research Institute of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CASRI).
Under the program, SAF produced by EcoCeres will be blended by CNAF and supplied to outbound freighter flights operated by SF Airlines, enabling up to a 90 percent reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions compared to conventional jet fuel.
Ezhou Huahu International Airport in Hubei, SF Airline’s cargo hub and a key aviation gateway under China’s 14th Five-Year Plan for Port Development, plays a central role in SAF fueling and operations for this initiative.
The project demonstrates cross-sector collaboration among aviation-fuel suppliers, cargo airlines and cargo owners in China, and it provides a scalable and replicable model for SAF adoption in logistics and air-freight applications.
This collaboration builds on EcoCeres’ prior SAF pilot program in China, codenamed “Project Spark.”
In the initial phase, SAF produced at EcoCeres’ Zhangjiagang facility was blended by CNAF and used to fuel commercial flights at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, validating the full value chain from production and transportation to blending and deployment.
The project also leverages AnchorTrace, a scope 3 environmental-attributes platform jointly developed by CNAF and CASRI, enabling full lifecycle tracking, registration and retirement of SAF environmental attributes.
By integrating renewable fuel production, a transparent environmental-attribute tracking system and real-world aviation-logistics demand, the project validates a decarbonization model that is both technically viable and commercially sustainable.
It provides strong support for the green transformation of China’s air-cargo sector and accelerates progress in hard-to-abate transport segments such as aviation and express logistics.
“This project demonstrates how SAF can pragmatically and efficiently connect renewable fuel producers, aviation-fuel infrastructure providers and cargo operators in a results-oriented way,” said James Tam, co-chairman of EcoCeres. “By integrating SAF into existing aviation-fuel systems, we are working together with our partners to build a replicable, scalable and verifiable pathway for lower-emissions air-cargo development in China.”
Li Sheng, chairman of SF Airlines, added, “The successful inaugural flight of this project marks SF Group’s enhanced end-to-end capability from bulk SAF sourcing, blending and customized fueling to freighter utilization, alongside a strategic green-capacity deployment. It also positions SF Airline as the first in China to integrate three unique advantages—a hub airport enabled for SAF, large-scale physical SAF fueling capability and international SAF certification, making it a scope 3 green-aviation service provider.”
Building on this collaboration, EcoCeres said it will further leverage its presence in Hong Kong and mainland China to expand a broader SAF project network, connecting regional feedstock supply, production and demand across both passenger- and cargo-aviation sectors.
