South Africa has vast potential in Sustainable Aviation Fuel production

·         Feedstock Potential: South Africa has an abundance of feedstocks from which SAF can be derived including sugarcane low carbon by-products, and biomass from cleared invasive alien plants (IAPs). With respect to IAPs, harvesting them will come with other environmental benefits such as improved biodiversity and water security. In all cases, no feedstocks would compete with food production for land or water use in line with the ICAO sustainability framework.

·         Significant Production Capacity: The WWF estimates that South Africa has the potential to produce between 3.2 and 4.5 billion liters of SAF annually. This will be more than meet domestic  fuel demand (1.8 billion liters) and present an export opportunity, where policies will be central for realization. Achieving production at the higher range of potential would require the co-development of a green hydrogen capability.

·         Existing Refinery Infrastructure: South Africa has existing refinery infrastructure which should be explored for brownfield investments—plant conversions or co-processing.

·         Experience: South Africa has long experience in synthetic fuel production, particularly the Fischer-Tropsch method. Moreover, the country’s robust academic and research institutions also have a history of supporting innovations and technology for fuel production. It’s the time we see polices to enable their role in SAF deployment.

·         Strategic Geographic Location: South Africa’s airports, particularly OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg and Cape Town International Airport, serve as important hubs for connecting flights within Africa and to other parts of the world.

1.    Industrial Infrastructure: Accelerate the development of production capabilities by using existing industrial infrastructure (brownfield investment) as a competitive advantage in the development and scaling of SAF production.

2.    Pooling Resources: Identify opportunities to develop SAF by encouraging collaboration between the government, private sector, and international partners to pool resources and expertise.

3.    Incentives for Research and Development (R&D): Spur innovation to drive down costs, increase production volumes, and diversify source crops/production methodologies with tax incentives, grants, and subsidies for R&D in SAF technologies.

4.    Investment in Infrastructure: Support the development of necessary infrastructure (greenfield), such as biorefineries and green hydrogen production facilities with tax and other incentives.