Scalable SAF with Feedstock Flexibility
Alyssa Norris
Director - Sustainability
Aether Fuels
Momentum behind sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) continues to accelerate globally. The European Union and the United Kingdom are doubling down on investment, setting mandates that will define aviation fuel markets for decades. Across Asia, governments including Singapore and South Korea are implementing ambitious SAF requirements and mandates.
If aviation is to meet their ambitious net-zero targets by 2050, the sector must move swiftly and decisively toward drop-in fuels that can leverage existing infrastructure and deliver real, verifiable reductions in lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions. This is especially true as CORSIA credit demand is increasing and there is not enough supply to keep up.
To meet this challenge, we must look beyond incremental improvements and focus on solutions with the potential to scale globally, cost-effectively, and sustainably. At Aether Fuels, we believe this means developing the next generation of SAF projects that can utilize a variety of different waste carbon feedstocks, scalable, and are economical.
Overcoming SAF’s Scalability Challenge
The aviation sector is rapidly approaching what many call the “HEFA tipping point.” Today, most global SAF supply comes from used cooking oil and other lipid-based feedstocks, but these resources are finite. Even under optimistic scenarios, HEFA feedstocks alone cannot deliver the volumes required to meet upcoming global SAF demand .
To meet future SAF demand, technology that can utilize abundant, sustainable, non-food, waste-based feedstocks is needed. Some examples of these feedstocks include:
Biomethane and biogas from wastewater, agriculture, and food processing
Biomass waste including agriculture and forestry residues or municipal solid waste
Industrial waste gases from refining and chemical hubs
Captured CO2 from point source locations or captured from the atmosphere
The main challenge for next generation SAF is not feedstock availability, but the lack of technology capable of economically converting these varied carbon sources into drop-in CORSIA-certified jet fuel, which Aether Aurora can solve.
Our Aether Aurora™ technology optimizes, intensifies, and simplifies the steps around the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process, a proven pathway that has powered industrial fuels production for nearly a century. By innovating around FT technology with the Aether Aurora electric tri-converter reactor for syngas generation and the Aether Aurora upgrader, our technology unlocks a broader range of sustainable feedstocks, delivering higher yield and lower CapEx compared to alternative technology pathways.
In short, Aurora ensures that SAF production is no longer held captive by a single feedstock’s availability or economics. It brings online the abundant, lower-cost resources the world will need as it moves beyond the HEFA era.
Singapore and Southeast Asia: A Natural SAF Hub
Feedstock flexibility is only part of the equation. A SAF industry needs places where policy, infrastructure, and supply chains align and where there is both public and private support. Singapore and Southeast Asia stand out as one of the world’s most compelling regions for SAF development.
Southeast Asia countries are feedstock-rich and policy support across the region is strengthening. According to Argus:
Singapore and South Korea have implemented SAF mandates
Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand are discussing SAF initiatives
Southeast Asia's abundant feedstock, industrial base, and logistics footprint make it one of the most important future contributors to global SAF supply. What the region needs is a technologically and economically viable way to turn its diverse waste carbon streams into drop-in jet fuel.
Aether Aurora provides that solution, and Singapore is where our commercial scaling efforts are beginning.
Project Beacon: Next-Generation SAF Production
Announced earlier this month in partnership with Aster at Singapore’s world-class refining and chemical hub, Aether’s Project Beacon is Southeast Asia’s first next-generation commercial demonstration SAF facility, which will validate and scale Aether’s technology under real industrial conditions. By combining Aether’s breakthrough Aurora platform with Aster’s deep operational expertise and globally connected infrastructure, Project Beacon positions Singapore as a leader in SAF for the Southeast Asia region.
The facility will produce 50 barrels per day, or 2,000 tons per year, of sustainable aviation fuel and naphtha using industrial waste gas and biomethane, feedstocks that do not compete with food, land, or animal feed supply chains. The resulting fuel will be CORSIA-certified and deliver an expected 70% + lifecycle GHG reductions compared to conventional jet fuel.
Breakthrough Economics Through Aether Aurora™
It’s imperative that next-gen SAF technology is economical. Aether Aurora technology does this though:
High feedstock flexibility – enabling efficient conversion of waste carbon (including industrial waste gas, biomass, captured CO2, and biogas)
High yield – with over 95% carbon conversion, our process is highly efficient
CapEx efficiency – reducing SAF production cost and enabling, regionally distributed facilities
Aether Aurora is a bridge to the future. Aviation’s journey to net-zero cannot rely on a single pathway. We need solutions that scale now while building the foundation for the sustainable fuels of tomorrow. The world is ready for the next generation of SAF, at Aether Fuels, we’re building it.