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Fuelling the Sustainable Bioeconomy


Programme Dates: 2019-2022

Programme Funders: The Boeing Company

RSB Programme Lead: Arianna Baldo, Carolina Grassi, Yitatek Yitbarek

Programme Location: Brazil, Ethiopia, South Africa

Overview

Fuelling the Sustainable Bioeconomy is a programme led by RSB, and powered by The Boeing Company. 

 

The programme aims to help the aviation industry play a leading role in tackling the threat of climate change, creating jobs, stimulating economic growth, developing rural livelihoods and protecting the environment, with key support from WWF South Africa and WWF Brazil. 

 

By providing guidance on the sustainability of alternative fuels, bringing together relevant stakeholders and integrating the bioeconomy as a critical part of the just energy transition, Fuelling the Sustainable Bioeconomy is helping to direct investment, policy makers, market development and further research to support the emergence of a truly sustainable bioeconomy.

Programme Aims

Support the development of a global SAF sector

Brazil

  • Assess SAF production routes from diversified feedstock
  • Develop tools to support technical and economic assessment of SAF routes
  • Develop regional supply chains and incentive the socioeconomic growth of smallholders
  • Support and develop the SAF sector in Brazil
  • Support SAF sustainability and biofuel policies
  • Develop guidelines for sustainable cultivation of crops with focus on sugarcane and macauba
  • Develop RSB Regional Sustainability Indicators
  • Assess iLUC values for Brazil to support discussion of new SAF pathways for CORSIA 

 

Ethiopia

  • Develop a national sustainable aviation biofuel roadmap
  • Explore and assess economic growth and job creation potential from the growth of a local biofuel industry
  • Support the SAF academic course programme at the Ethiopian Airlines Academy

 

 

 

 

 

South Africa

  • Develop RSB certification approach for invasive alien biomass
  • Develop a SAF technoeconomic assessment for South Africa
  • Support the development of the local SAF sector, with focus on sugarcane sector
  • SAF sustainability policy advocacy _

 

 

 

 

 

Programme Timeline

  1. June 2019
  2. January 2020
  3. February 2020
  4. October 2020
  5. May 2021
  6. June 2021
  7. August 2021
  8. September 2021
  9. October 2021
  10. December 2021
  11. January 2022

  1. June 2019:

    Programme kick-off

  2. January 2020:

    RSB hosts a scenario development workshop in Ethiopia for the development of a SAF roadmap

  3. February 2020:

    RSB webinar on Corn Sustainability

  4. October 2020:

    Research into SAF potential of South African sugarcane is published

  5. May 2021:

    RSB publishes research on the potential of non-crop feedstock pathways for Brazilian SAF

  6. June 2021:

    RSB presentation about SAF sustainability at the South African Department of Trade and Industry

  7. July / August 2021:

    Launch of RSB certification approach for invasive biomass

  8. September 2021:

    Launch of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) roadmap for Ethiopia

    SAF technoeconomic assessment for South Africa (date tbc)

  9. October 2021:

    Launch of SAF calculator for technical and economic assessment of SAF production in Brazil

    Publish the Guide for Sustainable Cultivation of Macauba

  10. December 2021:

    Publish the assessment of crop feedstock potential and availability for SAF production in Brazil

  11. January 2022:

    Publish the assessment of iLUC values for Brazil of SAF routes

Programme Outputs

Non-crop feedstock Availability for Sustainable Aviation Fuel in Brazil

2050 INDUSTRY GOAL CURRENT REALITY
GHG emissions reduced by 50% From the global production total of 390 billion litres JET A fuel The aviation sector has ambitious targets for reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Switching from fossil fuels to low-carbon SAF is considered the most efficient way to achieve those targets. Sustainable aviation fuels in Brazil

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Publication Date: May 2021

 

Scenario Development Report on the Future of Sustainable Biofuels in Ethiopia

RSB convened a group of key Ethiopian stakeholders to develop a set of scenarios for the sustainable biofuels sector in Ethiopia in order to understand the dynamics of the biofuel sector in Ethiopia and devise possible ways in achieving the targets set by the key stakeholders. The results of this process are published here.

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Publication Date : August 2020

The Viability of South African Sugarcane as Feedstock for Sustainable Aviation Fuel

Demand for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) that offers not only a minimum of 50% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to conventional jet fuel, but also credible environmental and social sustainability certification, is growing globally — driven by new policy mandates, passenger demand, and industry targets.

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Publication Date : October 2020

 

SAF: A Roadmap for Ethiopia

To explore and advance Ethiopia’s capacity to produce biofuels for use as Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), RSB initiated the development of a 10-year SAF Roadmap for the country – with a report detailing a roadmap for SAF development in the country now published and available to the public.

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Publication Date : November 2021

 

Report: Fuelling the Sustainable Bioeconomy

Now that the ‘Fuelling the Sustainable Bioeconomy’ programme has come to a close, RSB has published a report on the main results in each country, as well as the approach of RSB’s Landscape-Level Programme methodology.

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Publication Date : 30 November 2022

 

Programme News

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Elizabeth Wathuti will be speaking at RSB Annual Conference 2022

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Reflecting on the RSB Innovations Meeting 2022

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Speaker announcement: Who to expect at the RSB Innovations Meeting

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Updated agenda: What to expect at the RSB Innovations Meeting

  The RSB Innovations Meeting, in partnership with The Boeing Company, is less than a month away! In anticipation of this first-of-its-kind event, we are thrilled to share more details with you! Exclusive to RSB members and invited stakeholders, the […]

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RSB members: Register now to the RSB Innovations Meeting

  RSB members are invited to register to the RSB Innovations Meeting, held in Boston, USA! In partnership with The Boeing Company, the RSB Innovations Meeting is a first-of-its-kind event for RSB members and invited stakeholders, to be held at […]

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Registrations are open for RSB Annual Conference 2022!

RSB’s flagship event is back! We’re delighted to announce that our second fully-virtual Annual Conference, sponsored by The Boeing Company, will take place from 28th November to 1st December. Join us for 4 days of inspiring content that’ll empower you […]

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Announcing the RSB Innovations Meeting in partnership with Boeing at MIT

RSB is excited to announce the launch of the RSB Innovations Meeting! In partnership with The Boeing Company, the RSB Innovations Meeting is a first-of-its-kind event for RSB members and invited stakeholders to be held at the MIT Innovation HQ […]

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Launch of Ethiopia’s SAF Roadmap in Addis Ababa

Last week (February 24th) in Addis Ababa, RSB hosted stakeholders from government, private sector and civil society to launch the roadmap for developing Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) in Ethiopia. Dr. Yitebitu Moges, Ethiopia’s REDD+ Programme Coordinator, delivered a keynote address […]

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Alien Energy: Unlocking the potential of invasive plants in South Africa

Invasive alien plants (IAPs) are a scourge across Southern Africa – with species like black wattle and port jackson found across the region. It is estimated that more than 10% of South Africa’s land mass is covered by IAPs to […]

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Report: Roadmap for SAF Development in Ethiopia

To explore and advance Ethiopia’s capacity to produce biofuels for use as Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), RSB initiated the development of a 10-year SAF Roadmap for the country – with a report detailing a roadmap for SAF development in the […]

Read More

Ethiopian Stakeholders Convene on SAF Roadmap

RSB, together with the Ethiopia SAF Steering Committee, held a consultative workshop with key stakeholders to deliberate on the draft Ethiopian Sustainable Aviation Fuel roadmap on 27 May 2021. Stakeholders had the opportunity to review the draft and its preliminary […]

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RSB, Agroicone publish study to support sustainable transformation in Brazil with SAF

The aviation sector has ambitious targets for reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and switching from fossil fuels to low-carbon Sustainable Aviation Fuels. SAF is considered the most efficient way to achieve those targets quickly, however, in Brazil, the availability, […]

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RSB, SA Canegrowers Research Points to SAF Potential in South Africa

RSB has been working with the South African Canegrowers Association (SA Canegrowers) to identify opportunities for South African sugarcane ethanol to access local and international biofuels markets, particularly for the production of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF).  The South African sugarcane industry is looking to […]

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RSB Publishes TOR for Development of a SAF Roadmap for Ethiopia

RSB is looking for a consultant and/or a consortium of consultants and interested parties to develop a Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) roadmap for Ethiopia in close collaboration with a group of Ethiopian stakeholders, which have been organised into a SAF […]

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Ethiopian Sustainable Biofuel Future Scenario at a glance

As part of the Fuelling the Sustainable Bioeconomy powered by The Boeing Company, RSB gathered a group of key stakeholders in the Ethiopian bioeconomy to examine and uncover strategies and scenarios for the future development of a sustainable biofuels industry […]

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Solaris oil to pave the way for scaling up RSB-certified sustainable local fuel supply in South Africa

2016 saw South African Airways (SAA) perform Africa’s first flight powered by Sustainable Aviation Fuel produced from Sunchem’s nicotine-free tobacco plant Solaris. It was refined by World Energy Fuels in the USA, supplied by SkyNRG and supported by Boeing. This momentous […]

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RSB Hosts Aviation Leaders at the IATA Alternative Fuels Symposium

“We need alternative fuel produced using the right localised feedstock based on RSB Principles” – Jennifer Holmgren, CEO, Lanzatech On November 14th we hosted a lunch for aviation leaders at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Alternative Fuels Symposium. In a […]

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RSB joins the Brazilian Coalition on Climate, Forests and Agriculture

RSB is proud to announce that we have joined the Brazilian Coalition on Climate, Forests and Agriculture. For the RSB, knowing the power of collective action, the importance of engaging with this multi-stakeholder coalition could not be clearer. There is […]

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Boeing to collaborate with RSB, WWF to further grow a sustainable aviation industry in Brazil

Yesterday, Boeing announced a $1 million investment into the Brazilian bioeconomy via a commitment that will focus on identifying suitable feedstocks and supporting small-scale farmers across the country achieve RSB certification for the production of biomass for alternative fuels. Boeing […]

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