For many years, Philippe Haffner has been a leading advocate for the rapid adoption and scaling up of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in Europe’s aviation industry. The company he helped found, France-based Haffner Energy, has pioneered an innovative, patented thermolysis technology called SAFNOCA that uses thermal-decomposition processes to transform biomass into energy. It is designed to overcome the barriers to large-scale SAF production by converting any solid biomass residues or wastes into a renewable synthesis gas it calls Hypergas, a key component in the production of SAF. This offers significant potential for the wider decarbonization of the aviation industry.We had one or two years of delay, but now things are moving fast.
Barriers to uptake
While Haffner Energy has made significant inroads into the production and roll-out of SAF, the airline industry as a whole has been slow to catch up. Haffner sees two main reasons for this. “The first is an economic issue,” he says.
“SAF is still much more costly than fossil fuels and kerosene. We have to help airlines to adopt SAF.”
Philippe Haffner, CEO, Haffner Energy.
The second barrier is a technical one. “In order to make SAF, we need to convert a lot of biomass and many technologies are still not totally ready,” says Haffer. “This is not the case for our company,” he adds.
A turbulent macro-economic backdrop has not helped with the transition to SAF, with the sluggishness of the European economy contributing to slow rates of adoption. Haffer also points to the war in Ukraine resulting in a number of SAF projects being scrapped.
Picking up speed
Despite these setbacks, the transition to SAF is beginning to accelerate. “We had one or two years of delay, but now things are moving fast,” says Haffner. He points to ESG commitments within the industry leading to an increased focus on SAF policies. “We also have new budget mandates in Europe, which are going to be a real trigger,” says Haffner.
The European Parliament voted to approve a sustainable aviation fuel mandate, known as RefuelEU, in September 2023, which would see an increase in the use of SAF at EU airports.[1] The mandate featured a target to increase the share of SAF as a mix of aviation fuel from 2% in 2025 to 10% by 2030, and 70% by 2050. While economies are gearing up to support the transition to SAF, the limited availability of feedstock as a supply of biomass and uncompetitive pricing remain barriers the industry will need to overcome.
Financing the SAF transition
Haffner believes that both governments and the financial industry have to work together to deliver the SAF transition. “Governments cannot do everything by themselves, but the financial industry also needs help in order to meet targets,” he says. “One of the main challenges will be finding the right instruments in order to make the projects possible to finance,” he adds.
While Haffer believes that the US is better placed to support SAF financing than Europe, he thinks that the EU’s target of reaching a 70% share of SAF by 2050 is still feasible. However, he notes the Europe is late in meeting its 2030 target of a 10% share of SAF and needs to take a pragmatic approach to meeting its objectives.
[1] https://centreforaviation.com/analysis/reports/eu-parliament-approves-sustainable-aviation-fuel-mandate-up-from-2-in-2025-to-70-in-2050-661409
