In Singapore’s industrial-heavy district of Tuas, Finnish company Neste Oyj is building what will one day be the world’s largest facility for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
Once up and running in 2023, the plant should produce 1 million metric tons a year — a decent amount, but still less than 0.3% of annual global jet fuel demand. What little there is will be expensive: SAF costs as much as five times the price of traditional jet fuel, itself coming off a 14-year peak.
That's a problem for the airline industry, which is counting on SAF as critical component in its efforts to decarbonize. As of now, airlines contribute more than 2% of the world’s carbon emissions and lag almost all other sectors in pledges for a cleaner future.