Virgin Australia, Boeing release report on SAF accounting by independent advisory firm

Virgin Australia and Boeing have released a report by Pollination on the challenges and opportunities of an international book-and-claim system for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) accounting. 

The report completed by the independent advisory firm Pollination, unveiled at an industry event in partnership with the University of NSW’s Decarbonisation Innovation Hub, examines the challenges inherent in the current policy frameworks and the critical points of consideration to unlock alternative SAF-accounting frameworks, such as book and claim. 

The book-and-claim system separates the environmental benefits of SAF from the physical fuel.

This allows airlines to purchase and claim the environmental benefits of SAF without physically transporting and storing the fuel, reducing the logistics costs and avoiding the additional unnecessary carbon emissions.  

Book and claim represents a significant opportunity for Australia, which has natural advantages for SAF production, including abundant feedstock resources.

With this system, Australia could become an exporter of environmental benefits to regions where SAF production is limited or unavailable, creating economic opportunities by aggregating demand from both domestic and international markets while supporting global aviation decarbonization.   

Australia’s current greenhouse-gas (GHG) accounting system allows airlines to recognize emissions reductions from direct combustion of SAF but lacks mechanisms to account for SAF that Australian airlines purchase that is used outside the country. 

“In partnership with Boeing and the NSW Powerfuels including Hydrogen Network, we’re thrilled to bring together industry and academic leaders to present and explore the latest research supporting aviation’s transition to net-zero emissions by 2050,” said Fiona Walmsley, the general manager of sustainability for Virgin Australia. “SAF is the most critical decarbonization lever for the aviation sector to reach net-zero emissions, but production and use of SAF must accelerate significantly for the global aviation sector to achieve this goal. This report outlines how a book-and-claim system would allow Australian airlines to contribute to aviation decarbonization even before domestic SAF production commences. By enabling airlines to purchase SAF benefits regardless of location, we can accelerate industry-wide adoption and ultimately drive down costs. Enabling a book-and-claim system helps to avoid logistics costs and unfavorable environmental outcomes that occur from having to move fuel from where it is produced to where a customer is based.”  

Kimberly Camrass, Boeing’s sustainability lead for Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific, added, “Book and claim is critical to scaling SAF uptake globally. It eliminates geographical barriers, allowing airlines to access the environmental benefits of SAF even when they operate in regions where production is not possible or not yet established. This creates a truly global market for SAF, which is essential for meeting the commercial-aviation industry’s net-zero targets. Ensuring collective action by governments and industry is underpinned by world-leading research, such as that occurring through the NSW Powerfuels including Hydrogen Network, is vital.” 

The report was commissioned by Virgin Australia with the support of Boeing. 

It is available here on the Virgin Australia website.