Beijing, November 10 (Xinhua Finance): In recent years, the aviation industry has shown a rapid growth trend along with the robust development of the global economy. Data shows that the aviation industry's contribution to the global GDP has approached 4%. According to the "Impact of Civil Aviation Industry on China's National Economy", which was released in April this year, the civil aviation industry's contribution to China's national economy has shown a stable growth trend.

Meanwhile, aviation activities have become an important source of greenhouse gas emissions and also a "hard nut to crack" that needs to be addressed to achieve the decarbonization goals in the transportation sector. The industry widely believes that sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is an important means to achieve the decarbonization goals of the aviation industry.

The laid-out production capacity exceeds one million tons

SAF is a clean fuel made from renewable feedstocks such as waste vegetable oil, which can be directly applied to existing aviation engines. It is considered an inevitable choice for the aviation industry to achieve emission reduction targets because it not only reduces carbon emissions from aircraft during flight but also shows excellent carbon reduction performance in the entire life cycle, including the production process of raw materials.

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), 65% of carbon reduction in the aviation industry by 2050 will be achieved through the use of SAF. The use of SAF will reduce carbon emissions by 80% compared to the use of traditional aviation fuel, without the need for major renovations of existing aircraft and aviation infrastructure.

According to the "14th Five-Year Plan for the Special Development of Civil Aviation Green Development", the total consumption of SAF by airlines from 2020 to 2025 should reach 50,000 tons.

At present, within the country, China National Petroleum Corporation Zhenhai Refining & Chemical, Junheng Biological, Haixin Energy Science & Technology, Jiaoao Environmental Protection, and Yigao Biological have obtained the SAF production airworthiness certification, and have the ability to supply SAF to the Chinese civil aviation system. The SAF production airworthiness certification of companies such as Pengya Environmental Protection and Jingshang Environmental Protection is also continuously promoted.

In its half-year report for 2025, Hengxin Energy Science and Technology stated that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Shandong Sanju, has started production of bio-jet fuel in the first half of the year, adding about 160,000 tons of bio-jet fuel capacity on the basis of the original capacity; at the same time, bio-jet fuel was supplied to the Aviation Fuel Group for the first time, officially entering the Chinese aviation fuel market.

Bian Hui, chairman of China Aviation Fuel Co., Ltd., said that the total annual production capacity of the five SAF refineries that have completed airworthiness certification in China has exceeded 1 million tons, and the price of SAF per ton has dropped from about 30,000 RMB in 2022 to within 20,000 RMB.

In terms of technology, SAF currently has parallel development of FT, HEFA, AtJ, co-processing, PTL and other different paths.

Wu Yongtao, the deputy general manager of HENENG New Energy Science and Technology, stated that HEFA is the only large-scale commercial operation of SAF production process, accounting for more than 65% of the total SAF production and planning capacity in the world. Around the globe, dozens of production facilities are continuously iterating and upgrading to reduce the production cost of SAF. As the HEFA process mainly uses waste edible oil as raw material, it has given the public the impression of reusing "gutter oil".

The ready availability of waste edible oil has made the HEFA process the star of the SAF development scene in its early days, but it has also limited its potential, said Wu Yongtao. The scattered distribution and limited total amount of raw materials have constrained the upper limit of its development, he said, adding that China's total supply of waste edible oil is 3-4 million tons per year, and it is expected that the new capacity of HEFA process will slow down significantly by 2030. In the future, the co-refining process can rely on existing refineries to quickly and mass produce without the need to blend with traditional jet fuel, which reduces the cost of later processing and shows a certain development potential, he said.

Pilot applications continue to advance

In recent years, the application of SAF in China has undergone a process from scratch to gradual promotion.

Mu Yang, deputy director of the Development Planning Department of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, said that China's civil aviation green development has achieved phased results. The proportion of new energy vehicles in airports has exceeded 32%, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 3.5 million tons per year, and the annual power generation of photovoltaic has exceeded 6,000 million kilowatt-hours. In recent years, China has promoted the application of SAF in four airports, and through the application of "10+3" air traffic control backbone channels and continuous climbing technology, the fuel utilization efficiency has been significantly improved.

Reporters have found that China has completed two stages of pilot projects for the promotion and application of SAF.

From September 2024 to February 2025, China Aviation Fuel, in collaboration with Air China, China Eastern Airlines, and China Southern Airlines, conducted the first phase of its SAF pilot program by regularly refueling aircraft on 12 routes across four pilot airports. The pilot program achieved safe outcomes with zero issues in fuel, zero equipment failures, and zero flight anomalies after refueling 1,770 flights with SAF. It also marked the first time that SAF was safely applied on commercial flights of the domestically produced large passenger aircraft, the C919.

From March to June 2025, SAF pilot entered the second phase. At four pilot airports, the use of SAF was fully promoted to all flights. During this period, China Aviation Fuels also launched the SAF Operation Management System, which realized the full-link data visualization and controllability of procurement, blending, refueling, and traceability, and finally completed the pilot application of 7,808 tons of SAF, verifying the feasibility and efficiency of the current operation mode of SAF. In May, the domestic bio-jet fuel "white list" export policy was implemented, providing an implementation basis for the export of products from SAF manufacturing enterprises.

China National Aviation Fuel Group said it has positioned itself as a "pioneer of green development in civil aviation", and has incorporated the development of SAF into its core strategic layout, building a fuel support system that is "safe, stable, green and efficient". At present, the Group is steadily promoting the application pilot project of SAF, and has taken the lead in achieving the full-chain data flow of "oil coming—quality inspection—refueling—settlement", focusing on the development of SAF operation management system, to provide a closed-loop management guarantee that is traceable and verifiable for green refueling.

At the same time, the Group has also taken the lead in establishing the China SAF Industry Alliance, mobilizing leading enterprises, universities, research institutes and industry associations upstream and downstream to build an "industry-academia-research-application" integrated innovation platform, focusing on new generation technology routes such as esters and alcohols, carrying out centralized research and development, actively participating in and leading the formulation of industry green standards and norms, and supporting the large-scale and standardized implementation of SAF through standardization construction, to help the industry achieve coordinated and win-win development.

Develop in a diversified direction

Several industry players mentioned that issues such as a single energy structure, a weak SAF industry chain, a lack of key technologies and professional talents are still restricting industry development.

Bian Hui said that the current SAF price is significantly higher than traditional jet fuel, the incremental cost is high, and the cost mechanism has not yet formed a closed loop. On the demand side, the cost of green premium lacks a stable long-term mechanism, and airlines and fuel companies find it difficult to sign long-term and large-scale purchase contracts. On the production side, demand is not strong, market expectations are not clear, and refineries are not confident in expanding production, which restricts the release of market vitality.

Ren Yingli, Vice President of the Civil Aviation Transport Association of China, said that the green transformation of civil aviation has shifted from selective exploration to a rigid task. Issues such as the insufficient supply of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), significant cost control pressure, and the lack of a well-established market-based cost reduction mechanism may become the core bottlenecks that the industry needs to break through during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period. To achieve this, the association aims to: 1. Consolidate the consensus on emission reduction and transform policy guidance into industry actions. 2. Promote technological breakthroughs, discuss the large-scale production of SAF and the construction of the industrial chain, and explore new alternative energy technologies such as hydrogen and electricity to provide more green solutions for the industry. 3. Deepen international cooperation, and promote green development and achieve win-win cooperation through experience sharing and standard mutual recognition.

Wu Yongtao believes that with the successive implementation of national policies and continuous breakthroughs in process technology, SAF will gradually achieve diversification of process technology and raw materials, especially in coupled development with green electricity. Local regions can produce SAF based on the raw materials and processes available to them, so as to get rid of the constraints on industrial development caused by insufficient raw materials. As the safety of SAF is continuously verified and the supply capacity of production enterprises continues to increase, the users of SAF will pay more attention to the refueling method mainly based on book refueling, further reducing the cost waste caused by transportation and enhancing the carbon reduction ability of SAF.

The current price of SAF is significantly higher than traditional jet fuel, with high incremental costs and the cost mechanism has yet to form a closed loop. On the demand side, the cost of green premium lacks a stable long-term mechanism, making it difficult for airlines and fuel companies to sign long-term, large-scale procurement contracts. On the production side, demand is not strong, market expectations are not clear, and refineries are hesitant to expand production, which restricts the release of market vitality.

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