Acelen partners with the airline sector in a billion-dollar Macaúba SAF project
Acelen Renováveis and IATA (International Air Transport Association) signed a partnership to expand cooperation in initiatives aimed at developing the global market for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from macaúba.
One of the main long-term objectives is to advance the air transport decarbonization agenda.
"Decarbonizing aviation will require innovation, diversification of raw materials and collaboration across the entire value chain", said, in a note sent this Wednesday (10), Patrícia Grossi, responsible for the carbon market and regulatory affairs areas at Acelen Renováveis.
According to IATA estimates, SAF could account for around 65% of the emissions reductions needed for the airline sector to reach the goal of climate neutrality by 2050. To achieve this, global production would need to reach approximately 500 million tonnes per year by mid-century.
According to the entities, the partnership provides for collaboration on regulatory issues, joint participation in technical forums and working groups, in addition to the exchange of knowledge on new technological routes and raw materials for SAF production.
The agreement was formalized through a memorandum of understanding signed during the IATA Annual General Assembly and the World Air Transport Summit (WATS), held in Rio de Janeiro. The partnership occurs at a time of increasing mobilization in the airline sector for the supply of raw materials for the production of SAF.
The initiative also increases the international visibility of macaúba, an oilseed that is part of Acelen Renováveis' strategy for the production of sustainable fuels, highlighted the company's statement.
The company, controlled by Mubadala Capital, is betting on culture as a raw material to supply a future large-scale SAF production chain in Brazil. In Bahia, Acelen Renováveis is developing a project estimated at more than US$3 billion to produce renewable fuels.
The company's first integrated unit has an annual capacity of 1 billion liters of SAF and hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), in addition to the implementation of an agricultural chain based on the cultivation of macaúba in degraded areas.
With the partnership, the company said it wants to expand dialogue with airlines, regulators and public policy makers, amid the global race for new sources of sustainable raw materials to meet the goals of decarbonizing air transport.
For IATA's senior vice president of sustainability and chief economist, Marie Owens Thomsen, cooperation between industry segments will be fundamental "to accelerate the supply and adoption of sustainable fuels by commercial aviation."
Macaúba holds promise for the global sustainable aviation fuel market | CNN AGRO NEWS
Source: CNN