Iberia Airlines to buy 30 million gallons of SAF from Gevo over 5 years

Photo: Iberia Airlines

Gevo Inc. announced Nov. 2 a new fuel-sales agreement with Iberia Airlines, which is part of International Airlines Group.

The agreement provides Iberia Airlines 6 million gallons per year of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for five years from Gevo’s future commercial operations.

Iberia Airlines expects to commence fueling its aircraft with SAF from Gevo in 2028.

The expected value for the agreement is deemed to be $165 million over the five-year period, inclusive of the value from environmental benefits for Gevo.

Iberia Airlines is based in Madrid, Spain, and operates an international-flight network through its Madrid hub.

As part of IAG, Iberia Airlines is committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, with 10 percent implementation of SAF by 2030.

Utilization of SAF is one of the key opportunities for Iberia Airlines to reach its ambitious climate-change goals.

Gevo continues to pursue its stated goal of producing and commercializing 1 billion gallons of SAF by 2030.

By using the Argonne GREET model to provide a lifecycle inventory of carbon, Gevo has a business model designed to reduce greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions to net-zero over the entire lifecycle of each gallon of advanced renewable fuel (including its SAF), which includes the emissions resulting from burning the fuel in engines to power transportation.

The agreement with Iberia Airlines further increases Gevo’s global impact by adding to its range of airline partners.

“We are excited to welcome another member of IAG to Gevo’s SAF-customer roster,” said Gevo CEO Patrick R. Gruber. “The growth of the offtake agreements that we are seeing for SAF reinforces that airlines are ready to make an immediate impact and reduce their carbon intensity. With these commitments, we have no doubt that Gevo can help them achieve their sustainability targets.”

Iberia focuses on a four-pronged sustainability strategy: the green transition of the aviation sector, a more sustainable travel experience for its customers, turning Iberia Airlines employees into ambassadors of its sustainability strategy, and the commitment to society.

“SAF is the best solution to advance the decarbonization of the aviation sector, which will reduce emissions alongside other technology solutions as they are developed,” said Teresa Parejo, sustainability director for Iberia Airlines. “This agreement with Gevo is part of our commitment of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, and also part of the investment being made by the entire aviation sector toward the industry's green transition. This is a global challenge that must be addressed globally and requires as much public-private collaboration as possible.”