Photo credit: EcoCeres.
EcoCeres has partnered with SF Group and China National Aviation Fuel Group (CNAF) to launch a Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) commercial fueling program aimed at reducing emissions from China’s air cargo sector.
The program, developed in collaboration with the Second Research Institute of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CASRI), will use SAF produced by EcoCeres and blended by CNAF to fuel outbound freighter flights operated by SF Airlines. The SAF can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90% compared with conventional jet fuel.
Ezhou Huahu International Airport in Hubei, the cargo hub for SF Airlines, will serve as a central location for SAF fueling and operations under the program. The project brings together aviation fuel suppliers, cargo airlines and cargo owners and is intended to provide a scalable model for SAF adoption in logistics and air freight.
The collaboration builds on EcoCeres' previous SAF pilot program in China, known as Project Spark. During the initial phase, SAF produced at EcoCeres' Zhangjiagang facility was blended by CNAF and used to fuel commercial flights at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport. The pilot validated the SAF supply chain from production and transportation through blending and deployment.
The new project also uses AnchorTrace, a Scope 3 environmental attributes platform jointly developed by CNAF and CASRI. The platform enables lifecycle tracking, registration and retirement of SAF environmental attributes.
The combination of renewable fuel production, environmental attribute tracking and aviation logistics demand is intended to demonstrate a commercially viable model for reducing emissions in China's aviation and express logistics sectors.
EcoCeres plans to use its presence in Hong Kong and mainland China to expand its SAF project network, connecting regional feedstock supplies, production and demand across passenger and cargo aviation.
Source: EcoCeres, "EcoCeres, SF Group and China National Aviation Fuel Collaborate to Advance Low-Carbon Air Cargo Development in China"