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Chinese companies purchase 'green' jet fuel, expecting mixing guideline

Biofuel firms are putting more than $1 billion into structure China's first plants to turn waste cooking oil into air travel fuel for export and satisfy domestic need when Beijing mandates the fuel's use on aircrafts to cut emissions.

The world's second-largest air travel market, with about 11%. of international jet fuel use, China is anticipated to reveal this year. its policy on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) use for 2030 that. might spur billions of dollars of financial investment, industry. executives informed .

Business such as Junheng Industry Group Biotech, Zhejiang. Jiaao Enprotech and Tianzhou New Energy strategy to. launch plants over the next 18 months to produce more than one. million metric loads each year (tpy) of SAF combined, six SAF. investors told .

That figure would be comparable to 2.5% of China's existing. yearly need for aviation fuel.

When online, the tasks would take in materials of utilized. cooking oil (UCO) feedstock that China currently ships out as. world's biggest exporter, company executives said.

In 2015, China exported a record 2.05 million tons of UCO,. primarily to the United States and Singapore, and providing. feedstock to biofuel refiners such as Finnish firm Neste .

We're taking positions to prepare for the future, said. Eason Chen, a vice president of Tianzhou New Energy, which is. developing a 200,000 tpy SAF plant in the southwestern province of. Sichuan.

We're in discussion with airlines and oil majors for first. exports and have actually proposed to the Chinese federal government to announce. a clear SAF target, said Chen, a former jet fuel marketing. executive with oil significant BP.

The plants procedure UCO collected from countless. dining establishments using an innovation called hydrotreated esters and. fats (HEFA), among a couple of industrial pathways.

Although the procedure faces feedstock restrictions in the. longer run, state energies such as State Power Investment Corp. might become the next wave of financiers banking on a more recent however. more expensive innovation for the conversion to air travel fuel.

China now produces less than 100,000 lots of SAF, primarily at. a plant operated by Bain Capital-backed EcoCeres, which started. making the fuel in 2022 in the eastern region for export.

CHINA REQUIRED

The business preparing to make SAF expect a mandate for a. obligatory blend of 2% to 5% of SAF into an aviation fuel market. projection to reach 50 million heaps in 2030, said market. executives familiar with policy conversations, who spoke on. condition of privacy.

In the near term, China may unveil pilot airports in cities. such as Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Zhengzhou for preliminary SAF. adoption.

A 5% required would correspond to 2.5 million tons of SAF usage in. China by 2030, modest compared to the European Union's target of. 6% and Japan's 10%, but a dive from the 50,000-ton SAF target. for 2025 Beijing described a few years ago, the executives stated.

Secret policy deciders the Civil Aviation Administration of. China (CAAC) and financial planner the National Development and. Reform Commission did not respond to ask for comment.

Globally, airlines consumed in between 450,000 and 500,000 lots. of SAF in 2015, double the 2022 figure however still making up. just 0.1% of jet fuel, the International Air Transport. Association (IATA) states.

In the middle of little production capacity and greater costs, as SAF is. almost three times as expensive as jet kerosene, IATA quotes. SAF production might increase to 0.53% of total fuel intake in. 2024 and add $2.4 billion to the sector's fuel bill.

Fuel typically makes up a 3rd of airline companies' operating expense.

When the marketplace demand and policy becomes clearer, the. sector will grow rapidly, which can then drive down the expense,. said Ye Bin, chairman of Jinshang Environmental Protection. Innovation Co Ltd, which is set to start developing a 400,000-tpy. facility in July in Sichuan.

EXPORTS EYED

With nearly no near-term domestic need, the brand-new SAF. refiners are initially targeting exports, which industry. executives anticipate China will eventually manage through a system. of quotas.

Apart from courting oil majors, the business are turning to. airline companies in Asia Pacific as well as in the Middle East, the. executives stated.

The next couple of years will be a duration of heated competitors. among manufacturers as demand is restricted and rates are high, stated. Wang Yantao, head of SAF at Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech Co, which. counts worldwide oil majors Shell and ExxonMobil as clients.

Thankfully pioneer manufacturers like Neste have opened some. markets, so we will simply need to follow suit as long as our. products are competitive, said Wang.

Neste agreed this month to supply 1,000 tons of SAF to. Singapore Airlines, the latest of a series of offers the Finnish. refiner has actually struck with carriers such as Ireland's Ryanair and. British Virgin Atlantic.

(source: Reuters)