[reprinted from https://www.gasworld.com/story/biomass-to-saf-pathway-offers-opportunity-to-meet-canadian-aviation-targets/2260657.article/]

Clean fuels are shifting from a policy ambition to an industrial reality in North America, and for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) producers in Canada, scaling alternative feedstocks and production pathways presents an opportunity to help reach domestic SAF targets.

Speaking on a recent gasworld webinar, Seth Brouwers, Chief Innovation Officer at Canadian clean technology firm Sustaero, said, “Having a secure energy supply [and] producing our own fuels using our own resources is a huge opportunity and can be a huge strength.”

This energy and feedstock reliability, paired with government support, plays a key role in de-risking projects and investment, he added.

Accelerating domestic SAF project investment and scaling up supply is key to meeting Canada’s Aviation Climate Action Plan target of 10% SAF use by 2030.

Sustaero is one company in this space and converts sustainable biomass into SAF through a proven syngas-to-liquids pathway.

In July, Sustaero selected Danish firm Topsoe and South African chemical and energy company Sasol as the technology providers for the Sustaero SAF project in northern Ontario, Canada.

Once fully operational in 2030, the facility is expected to produce 3,200 barrels per day of SAF with expansion potential of three times initial capacity.

Other elements of project de-risking, and key challenges for scaling SAF production, include securing reliable technology, long-term feedstock security, and sourcing low-carbon reliable electricity, Brouwers noted.

“We need woody biomass SAF…so absolutely, the opportunity is scalable, and we see biomass to liquids being a critical pathway to achieve these targets,” he said.

This coincides with a report from the Canadian Council for Sustainable Aviation Fuels (C-SAF), which states that Canada has enough sustainable biomass to produce seven to ten billion litres of SAF a year.

This amount, if used in aviation, is what Canada would need to meet aviation fuel demand in 2030, representing an opportunity to scale up the domestic SAF market.

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