Shell Aviation, Accenture, Amex GBT announce evolution of Avelia

Photo: Shell Aviation

Shell Aviation, one of the largest suppliers of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), Accenture and American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) announced July 10 that Avelia is in the process of evolving to an industry solution with independent-data hosting and a multisupplier model helping users access the greenhouse-gas (GHG) benefits of SAF from multiple SAF suppliers, including Shell. 

Avelia’s evolution aims to better meet customer needs, accelerate SAF adoption and provide companies with a clear, scalable pathway to credible business-travel lifecycle GHG-emissions reductions from aviation.

This comes at a critical time for the aviation sector.

SAF is widely recognized as the most viable solution for reducing the lifecycle-GHG emissions of aviation today, with the potential to reduce lifecycle-GHG emissions by up to 80 percent compared to conventional jet fuel when used neat.

According to the International Air Transport Association, however, in 2025, SAF production is expected to reach only 2.1 million metric tons, or 0.7 percent of total jet-fuel production.

“Avelia has established itself as the leading blockchain-powered book-and-claim solution with the aim of scaling SAF, reducing the lifecycle-GHG emissions of aviation and enabling greater participation in the sector’s decarbonization efforts,” the companies stated. 

Launched in 2022, Avelia helps companies to access the GHG benefits of SAF without being constrained by its physical availability at specific locations.

As of March 31, more than 57 corporations and airlines had joined Avelia and over 900 retirements had been executed.

This contributed to the injection of over 33 million gallons of SAF into the existing global fuel network at 17 airport injection points around the world resulting in over 300,000 tons of CO2e abated, the equivalent of over 530,000 passengers flying from London to New York.

Avelia’s evolution towards an industry-wide solution introduces functionalities that will enhance transparency, flexibility and industry participation, including:

• Independent-data hosting—with the platform data now hosted and handled by Accenture, Avelia also provides a blockchain-powered transparent, secure, reliable and externally verified platform for accessing and allocating the information for the applicable SAF offering.

• Multisupplier solution—until now Avelia has only accepted SAF supplied by Shell. With this change, Avelia is in the process of evolving from a single-supplier platform to a multisupplier solution, helping users access the GHG benefits of SAF from multiple SAF suppliers, including Shell. Customers including airlines, corporations and freight forwarders will be able to manage SAF from different suppliers within Avelia, simplifying their SAF overview.

• Bring your own SAF (BYOS) model—Avelia is looking to introduce a BYOS model, which enables airlines to manage more of their SAF portfolio in Avelia, including SAF originally purchased outside of the Shell supply network as well as SAF that otherwise would have been tracked offline and not on a digital registry. This feature will support the use of book-and-claim solutions for tracking SAF, helping build credibility for book and claim at an industry level and accelerating SAF adoption.

• Multilateral governance—Avelia is in the process of setting up a multilateral-governance structure to enable multiparty involvement and more transparency information around the Avelia operating procedures.

“This moment marks a significant milestone not only for Avelia but for the aviation sector,” said Raman Ojha, the president of Shell Aviation. “Avelia’s evolution from a single-supplier platform to a multisupplier industry solution is a powerful demonstration of how collaboration, technology and innovation can accelerate the scaling of SAF. We are proud to help enable broader participation and transparency in the sector’s efforts to reduce lifecycle-GHG emissions while supporting our customers in reaching their climate goals.”

Evan Konwiser, Amex GBT’s chief product and strategy officer, said, “For the majority of companies, scope 3 emissions represent the largest share of their total carbon footprint and reducing them can be challenging. As a leading software and services company for travel, expense, meetings and events, Amex GBT is committed to leading with our customers on decarbonization. As a partner in Avelia, we continue to grow and evolve the world’s first and now most established book-and-claim platform for SAF. Together we can accelerate its scale and increase customer access to its environmental benefits.”

Jesko-Philipp Neuenburg, Accenture’s global travel and aviation sustainability lead, added, “Evolving Avelia into a multisupplier industry solution is a decisive step to scale SAF in aviation, strengthening industry collaboration and resilience while using sustainability as a growth driver. As Avelia’s strategic advisor and technology partner, Accenture continues to shape its evolution while overseeing data processing and hosting for Shell. This safeguards data compartmentalization and transparency, giving customers clear control. It also builds the secure, scalable foundation needed for a flexible industry platform. Together, we are enabling aviation to advance towards achieving its climate commitments.”