Singapore supports use of palm oil in sustainable aviation fuel production

[JAKARTA] PALM oil should be included as feedstock for the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), said Acting Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat.

He made the comments at a regional meeting of transport ministers from the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean).

“We should take a pragmatic approach based on science and evidence, instead of an ideological approach based on pre-conceived bias and dogma,” said Chee, who was speaking on developing sustainable transport with his Asean counterparts on Monday (Sep 4).

This is in contrast to the European Union (EU), which has banned the use of palm oil to manufacture SAF on the basis that palm oil production has been associated with deforestation.

The EU has imposed several rules over the years restricting palm oil imports, often sparking protests from Malaysia and Indonesia, the world’s top palm oil producers.

The use of palm oil as a feedstock in SAF production has been controversial. While there are concerns over whether palm oil has been sourced sustainably, it is the most abundant feedstock.

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It is therefore important to establish a scientifically driven process to validate the sustainability of SAF feedstock, said Chee.

Speaking at the high-level dialogue, which is among several meetings on the sidelines of the 43rd Asean summit in Jakarta, he recognised that some of the feedstock available in the Asia-Pacific region may not be widely accepted in other parts of the world due to perceived environmental risks, even though palm by-products and residues are recognised under the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (Corsia) regime.

Corsia is a carbon offset and reduction scheme for the aviation sector under the International Civil Aviation Organization.

Chee added that Singapore would be working with Boeing and the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials and other regional stakeholders to study how Asean can leverage on potential feedstock in the region for SAF production.

The use of SAF has been identified as the main avenue for the aviation sector to decarbonise.

However, production volumes are still dismal. Chee noted that global SAF production in 2022 made up less than 0.1 per cent of global jet fuel consumption. He added that there is potential for SAF production to grow in Asean.

“If demand for air travel is going to grow, I believe there will also be demand for the supply that the producers are going to bring into the market,” said Chee.  

“We will need countries to collaborate on this, to ensure that there is free flow of SAF and its feedstock globally, so that the international aviation industry will have sufficient supply of SAF to meet their needs.”