sustainable aviation fuel

also referred to as: saf · sustainable aviation fuels

27 statements across 15 episodes · 12 bullish · 6 bearish · 13 people on the record · first statement Dec 2, 2021 by Dan Rutherford · across every show →

Everything said about sustainable aviation fuel, oldest first

Dec 2, 2021 bearish
Opinion
Rutherford: Boeing passes the buck on aircraft decarbonization compared to Airbus
“There are real merits to those fuels, but if you're a manufacturer to say, you know, we're going to build, we're going to continue to build our planes as they are today, and someone else is going to produce the fuel to make them zero carbon, it's a little bit …”
Dan Rutherford Dec 2, 2021 ▶ 25:28 A bumpy ride toward decarbonizing aviation
Dec 2, 2021 bullish
Prediction Open · timeframe Dec 2050
Rutherford: SAFs will lead aviation decarbonization through 2040 before hydrogen potentially emerges
“You know, 2030, SAFs, definitely. 2040, I would also say SAFs. 20 50, it may shift to hydrogen.”
Dan Rutherford Dec 2, 2021 ▶ 37:24 A bumpy ride toward decarbonizing aviation
Dec 2, 2021 neutral
Assertion Supported
Rutherford: Sustainable aviation fuel accounts for less than 0.1% of global use
“Current uptake is very, very small. It's less than .one percent of global jet fuel use.”
Dan Rutherford Dec 2, 2021 ▶ 10:32 A bumpy ride toward decarbonizing aviation
Apr 28, 2022 positive
Assertion Not publicly verifiable
Shah: DOE LPO has $15B in proposed sustainable aviation fuel applications
“I think we have fifteen billion dollars at this point of sustainable aviation fuel projects that have been proposed to the office.”
Jigar Shah Apr 28, 2022 ▶ 43:31 Hydrogen, meet salt cavern
May 12, 2022 bullish
Opinion
Kann: Thirty new sustainable aviation fuel plants would immediately sell out
“There is more demand than there is supply for sustainable aviation fuel at the moment. If we had 30 new SAF plants, they would be selling at full capacity.”
Shayle Kann May 12, 2022 ▶ 26:04 Shayle’s “ask me anything” episode
May 12, 2022 bearish
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Kann: Sustainable aviation fuel will ultimately displace less than 50% of demand
“What portion of 100% can we get to with sustainable aviation fuel? I don't have the number for you exactly because it's contingent on a bunch of these other Sort of like upstream questions, I think, but I don't think it's 50%, ultimately.”
Shayle Kann May 12, 2022 ▶ 25:26 Shayle’s “ask me anything” episode
May 19, 2022 neutral
Assertion Supported
Kann: Airlines buy sustainable aviation fuel despite it remaining cost uncompetitive
“You look at the procurements that airlines are making for sustainable aviation fuel, none of which is cost competitive with traditional jet fuel today, but it's happening at fairly significant volume already just with bio-based sustainable aviation fuels”
Shayle Kann May 19, 2022 ▶ 25:42 How will the downturn affect climate tech?
Jun 9, 2022 negative
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Friedmann: Europe's sustainable aviation fuel push risks deforestation and eco-colonialism
“So there's a risk that by Europe going forward fast on sustainable aviation fuels that may lead to eco-colonialism or may lead to deforestation and bad outcomes, even though they're chasing something virtuous.”
Julio Friedmann Jun 9, 2022 ▶ 30:00 From biowaste to “biogold”
Jun 9, 2022 bullish
Assertion Partly supported
Friedmann: Waste Biomass Is Sufficient to Scale SAF Without Hitting Limits
“We do need huge volumes of biomass to make huge volumes of sustainable aviation fuel. But in point of fact, there is way more waste biomass than that. So we're not going to hit the limit just on sustainable aviation fuel.”
Julio Friedmann Jun 9, 2022 ▶ 29:22 From biowaste to “biogold”
Aug 18, 2022 neutral
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Mukhopadhyay: Net-zero aviation by 2050 requires electric, hydrogen, and SAF
“And then on the lower end, electrify everything. As much can be electrified, should be electrified. Wherever hydrogen can be used, should be used, and everything else will require SAF to decarbonize, and that's really the only way we get to net zero emissions …”
Jayant Mukhopadhyay Aug 18, 2022 ▶ 34:01 Booking your first zero-emissions flight
Dec 15, 2022 neutral
Assertion Supported
First Movers Coalition requires 85 percent emissions reduction for aviation fuel
“Our standard is 85% reduction or more.”
Varun Sivaram Dec 15, 2022 ▶ 38:08 Advance market commitments to decarbonize heavy industry
Oct 12, 2023 positive
Assertion Supported
Kann: Airlines pay a proven green premium for sustainable aviation fuel
“There's a proven green premium there. Like airlines are paying a premium for sustainable aviation fuel, not as obvious in some of these other hard debate sectors, like less clear and cement, for example, right? But in sustainable aviation fuel, it is happening…”
Shayle Kann Oct 12, 2023 ▶ 40:04 How is U.S. industrial policy affecting actual climatetech investment?
Oct 12, 2023 positive
Assertion Supported
Houser: IRA incentives and airline demand shift biofuel projects to SAF
“The incentives for SAF in the IRA, combined with the airline demand that you mentioned and the willingness to pay a green premium, Is prompting a lot of these projects to shift product mix and focus a little bit and start optimizing towards as much as they can…”
Trevor Houser Oct 12, 2023 ▶ 41:15 How is U.S. industrial policy affecting actual climatetech investment?
Jan 19, 2024 bearish
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Cabiyo: Global biomass demand in 2050 exceeds sustainable supply by 11x
“There's a huge mismatch between the supply and demand there of biomass and biomass uses and that mismatch is, based on the best estimates that, that I've seen, that mismatch is something on the order of, like, 11 to 16 X. In other words, 11 to 16 X more uses i…”
Dr. Bodhi Cabiyo Jan 19, 2024 ▶ 8:17 Sourcing biomass for carbon removal
May 2, 2024 bearish
Assertion Supported
Friedmann: Announced SAF plants cannot meet the 2027 global airline mandate
“If every Sustainable aviation fuel plant that had been announced were to be built, there would not be enough fuel for the twenty-twenty-seven target. Period.”
Julio Friedmann May 2, 2024 ▶ 24:05 CO2 utilization
May 16, 2024 neutral
Assertion Supported
DeLuca: SAF Has a 50% Maximum Blend Limit Today
“The first is the fact that there is a maximum blend limit of 50% today, and that's just because the chemistry of SAF is slightly different than conventional jet fuel, and if you've got it at a hundred percent, there are some things in the infrastructure themse…”
Amelia DeLuca May 16, 2024 ▶ 23:27 Understanding SAF buyers
May 16, 2024 bullish
Opinion
Delta CSO: Aviation must scale SAF faster than wind or solar did
“We've got to outpace Some of those other emergent industries in terms of we don't have decades to get this right. It needs to scale sooner rather than later.”
Amelia DeLuca May 16, 2024 ▶ 5:31 Understanding SAF buyers
May 16, 2024 negative
Insight
DeLuca: Bilateral airline contracts failed to finance SAF projects
“You had an airline and a startup, and that wasn't working. They weren't getting financing. We can send all the demand signals we want, but still, you know, the way that, you know, essentially the Contracts were written that SAF supplier just wasn't getting the…”
Amelia DeLuca May 16, 2024 ▶ 8:48 Understanding SAF buyers
May 16, 2024 bullish
Disclosure
Delta Plans for 15M+ Gallons of SAF in California Over Two Years
“We are actively planning for fifteen million gallons plus in California over the next two years, and the reason I'm starting with California is just mentioning that's where the incentives are to date.”
Amelia DeLuca May 16, 2024 ▶ 17:45 Understanding SAF buyers
May 16, 2024 neutral
Assertion Supported
Delta buys 4B gallons of fuel yearly, securing only 3.5M of SAF
“Delta as a company procures four billion gallons of jet fuel every year. Last year we used roughly three and a half million gallons of SAF, and that's not for wanting more. That's all we could get our hands on.”
Amelia DeLuca May 16, 2024 ▶ 4:55 Understanding SAF buyers
May 16, 2024 positive
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Buyers exist for Scope 3 emissions of every drop of Delta's SAF
“We've got a buyer for the scope three emissions for every single drop that we have, and there's way more demand for that than we can even get our hands on”
Amelia DeLuca May 16, 2024 ▶ 5:07 Understanding SAF buyers
Jul 12, 2024 positive
Insight
Loo: Shipping engines do not require high-quality SAF-level fuel refinement
“The thing with SAV is you need to, it needs to be really high quality, right? I mean, it needs to mimic jet A-one fuel. With shipping, you don't need that.”
Dr. Lynn Loo Jul 12, 2024 ▶ 15:57 Decarbonizing the high seas
Jul 12, 2024 neutral
Prediction Held up
Loo: Maritime shipping will not converge on a single replacement fuel
“I think, you know, the future of maritime, it's not going to be single fuel. So we're not going to, for example, move into one single fuel. I think, you know, as a contrast to aviation, where I think there's a convergence that we need sustainable aviation fuel…”
Dr. Lynn Loo Jul 12, 2024 ▶ 11:33 Decarbonizing the high seas
Aug 23, 2024 bullish
Prediction Open · timeframe Aug 2029
Johnson: Natural hydrogen and biogenic CO2 can reach aviation fuel parity
“You could even take, you know, natural hydrogen produced at optimized prices, combine that with biogenic CO two, and you could make kerosene for sustainable aviation fuel pretty darn close to cost parity to the kerosene that just comes out of oil refinery.”
Pete Johnson Aug 23, 2024 ▶ 16:23 Hunting for geologic hydrogen
Dec 19, 2024
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Klauber: Uncertified SAF barge was priced at half of certified SAF
“There was a barge that sat off of the coast of California that was uncertified SAF. And every, all our customers said, hey, there's a great deal on SAF. We're not sure we should buy it because we don't know where it's coming from, and it happens to be about ha…”
Adam Klauber Dec 19, 2024 ▶ 16:40 Scaling low-carbon products with book and claim systems
Dec 19, 2024 neutral
Assertion Supported
Klauber: Maritime fuel scaling is harder than SAF due to multiple engine specs
“One of the differences between aviation and shipping is that with aviation fuels, you've got a drop in solution, right? So any staff that meets the spec can go into any aircraft, and that's not the case with shipping. They've got something called, they like to…”
Adam Klauber Dec 19, 2024 ▶ 30:58 Scaling low-carbon products with book and claim systems
Mar 13, 2025 positive
Insight
Chiang: Voltage tuning lets electrochemistry drive impossible thermal reactions for fuels
“Well, so SAFs, sustainable aviation fuels would be an example, and in particular, you know, CO₂ to fuels. That is a case where, you know, CO₂, you know, decomposing molecules is highly energetic, and that's where electrochemistry has that advantage that I refe…”
Yet-Ming Chiang Mar 13, 2025 ▶ 19:11 An ode to electrochemistry
Made with StarZero

Turn any episode into a week of clips.

This entire site, over 200 episodes transcribed, diarized, checked and made playable, runs on the StarZero media pipeline. Drop in your own episode and the podcast clipper finds the moments worth sharing, cuts them, captions them, and reframes them for every feed.