Turning Challenge into Opportunity 2025

Despite its increasing maturity, especially compared to other sectors, the existing landscape of SAF registries and tracking mechanisms can suffer from fragmented information across multiple parties and limited interoperability between different platforms. While the framework defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol allows for co-claiming emissions savings from multiple parties, diverging business models and approaches to double counting and certificate allocation can also create uncertainty, which may undermine trust in SAF claims, increase administrative burdens and reduce private sector involvement, ultimately slowing down SAF adoption and investment.12,13 In addition, physical supply of SAF may be mandated in specific airports, resulting (in some cases) in higher logistics, financial and efficiency challenges than if this SAF were delivered to a different location. Why it matters Digitalization and book-and-claim systems can facilitate effective SAF logistics and overcome the physical and environmental complexities of SAF distribution. They can facilitate the commercialization of SAF by spreading the price premium of the fuel across a higher number of players, while supporting logistics efficiency in fuel blending and delivery. Smart solutions It is important to continue testing and standardizing digital solutions that can increase transparency of SAF supply chains, thereby ensuring traceability and interoperability of existing schemes. More integrated guidelines are needed to standardize measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) methodologies for book-and-claim throughout the SAF supply chain, from feedstock to final use, to strengthen the accurate transfer of the environmental attributes of SAF along the supply chain. Stakeholders can engage with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), Greenhouse Gas Protocol and other bodies to support the recognition of high-integrity book-and-claim systems as a legitimate tool that corporates can deploy to reduce their emissions. They can also engage with governments to understand: –Potential benefits of book-and-claim in reaching SAF targets. –Implications of airport-specific supply requirements on logistics. –Potential benefits of book-and-claim. –Lessons learned from more flexible mandates. For example, Brazil and the United Kingdom introduced SAF mandates based on the progressive reduction of the carbon emission intensity of the fuel rather than on specific volumetric targets and supply points. Insights from on-airport SAF value chain Once SAF enters the airport environment, a distinct set of operational and logistical complexities comes into play. Airports and airlines have legacy systems built for conventional Jet-A and thus need to change these to handle SAF’s unique properties, blending protocols and certification needs directly on-site. For this reason, blending typically or often by law, takes place off-airport. However, there are signs the market is making pragmatic developments, such as the opening of a dedicated SAF blending terminal in Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport, Queensland, Australia. Nevertheless on-airport challenges persist, ranging from the lack of segregated fuel farm storage tanks to robust traceability and real-time quality controls. These are pivotal in ensuring that SAF not only arrives at the wing but does so safely, efficiently, in the right volumes and at the right time, in compliance with stringent industry standards. Overcoming these hurdles is critical for enabling seamless integration of SAF into daily flight operations and unlocking its full decarbonization potential. FIGURE 2 Fuel truck Hydrant systemAircraftFuel farm From Figure 1On-airport SAF supply chain mapping Turning Challenge into Opportunity: Supplier Voices from Heavy-Emitting Sectors 11