Avfuel Corp. said it agreed to a multimillion-dollar investment in Alder Fuels, a company that develops technology for producing sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF. As part of the agreement, Avfuel, a global provider of aviation fuel and related services, said it will buy 1 billion gallons of SAF over 20 years.
The agreement brings together the latest pioneering SAF technology and a longstanding worldwide fuel distribution network of more than 3,000 locations and more than 650 Avfuel-branded FBOs.
Alder, based in Washington, D.C., converts biomass, including grasses and forest and agricultural residue, into sustainable, low-carbon crude oil that can replace traditional fossil crude in refineries that produce aviation fuel.The company said it can produce ultra-low to negative-carbon crude that can be refined to meet current jet fuel standards.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, residues from forestry and agriculture in the U.S. could provide enough biomass energy to generate more than 17 billion gallons of jet fuel and displace 75 percent of U.S. aviation fuel consumption. Avfuel, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, said the agreement with Alder marks a step toward wider adoption of SAF and reaching the industry goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
“Avfuel is committed to providing sustainable solutions for its customers, including business aviation, fixed based operators and airlines,” said C.R. Sincock, executive vice president of Avfuel. “This is an important milestone in business aviation’s SAF adoption story, but we realize reaching net zero targets will require a collective effort industry-wide to provide and embrace sustainable fuels.”
Alder said SAF refined from its biocrude is in the global certification process as a “100-percent drop-in replacement” for petroleum-based jet fuel. The company said it expects the SAF will be available during the first quarter of 2024.
