Restoration of SAF target crossing

For many years, Philippe Haffner has been a leading advocate for the rapid adoption and scale-up of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in the European aviation industry. The company he helped found, France’s Haffner Energy, is a pioneer of an innovative, patented thermolysis technology called SAFNOCA, which uses thermal decomposition processes to convert biomass into energy. It is designed to overcome barriers to large-scale SAF production by converting any solid biomass residue or waste into renewable syngas it calls Hypergas, a key ingredient in SAF production. This creates significant potential for broader decarbonization of the aviation industry. We had a year or two delay, but now things are moving quickly.

Barriers to overcome

While Haffner Energy has made significant progress in SAF production and deployment, the aviation industry as a whole is slow to catch up. Haffner sees two main reasons for this state of affairs. “First of all, it is an economic issue,” he says.

“SAF is still much more expensive than fossil fuels and kerosene. We need to help airlines implement SAF.”

Philippe Haffner, CEO of Haffner Energy.

The second barrier is technical. “To produce SAF, we need to process a lot of biomass, and many technologies are not completely ready yet,” says Haffer. “This is not the case with our company,” he adds.

The turbulent macroeconomic environment did not help the transition to JPK, and the sluggishness of the European economy contributed to the low pace of implementation. Haffer also draws attention to the war in Ukraine, which led to the abandonment of many SAF projects.

We’re gaining speed

Despite these setbacks, the transition to SAF is beginning to accelerate. “We were a year or two behind schedule, but things are moving quickly now,” Haffner says. It points to ESG commitments across the industry that are leading to greater focus on SAF policies. “We also have new budget mandates in Europe, which will be a real stimulus,” says Haffner.

In September 2023, the European Parliament voted to approve a sustainable aviation fuel mandate, known as RefuelEU, which will result in an increase in the use of SAF at EU airports.(1) The mandate sets the target of increasing the share of SAF as a fuel blend of aviation fuel with 2% in 2025 to 10% by 2030 and 70% by 2050. While economies are preparing to support the transition to SAF, limited availability of raw materials as a source of biomass and uncompetitive prices remain barriers for the industry to overcome.

Financing the transition to SAF

Haffner believes that both governments and the financial industry must work together to ensure the transition to JPK. “Governments can’t do everything alone, but the financial industry also needs help to achieve its goals,” he says. “One of the main challenges will be finding appropriate instruments to finance projects,” he adds.

Although Haffer believes the United States is better placed to support SAF financing than Europe, he believes the EU’s goal of achieving 70% SAF participation by 2050 is still feasible. However, it notes that Europe is behind schedule in achieving its 2030 target of 10% SAF participation and must adopt a pragmatic approach to achieve its goals.

(1) https://centreforaviation.com/analytic/reports/eu-parliament-approves-sustainable-aviation-fuel-mandate-up-from-2-in-2025-to-70-in-2050-661409