Global aerospace giant and advocate for sustainable aviation fuels Boeing believes that Brazil has the potential to be a critical SAF producer. Yes, the same Brazil that’s home to Embraer and a current oil producer.

Brazil gets a vote of confidence from Boeing

Boeing held a Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) Sustainability Forum in Brazil’s Sao Paulo on August 8, where Boeing's President Latin America & Caribbean, Vice President for Global Policy A. Landon Loomis, shared with the gathering:

"Brazil has the technical capacity, qualified workforce, and raw material to post the concrete results and impacts needed for us to solve together this global challenge of how to decarbonize aviation. Boeing already is one of the world's largest buyers of sustainable aviation fuel."

This is the same Boeing with a Cascade Climate Impact Model and also delivered a 787 to EL AL on 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). But the work to create the world’s own SAF supply has just begun.

Photo: Tom Boon | Simple Flying

Carolina Grassi, Manager of Public Policies and Innovations at RSB also offered according to Travel2latam the sentiment that,

This statement reflects that Brazil is one of the world’s leading producers of sugar cane – and sugar cane leaves behind straw and bagasse that cannot be optimally used in food production but is optimal for biofuels.

Brazilian airline GOL wants a sense of urgency

Also, at Boeing’s event, the Brazilian low-cost carrier GOL Airlines Operations Control Center director Eduardo Calderon stated the airline’s position;

"If we don't start right now, we will not get there. The world is already lagging behind. If we don't start that SAF process very soon, we won't reach this ambitious 2050 goal."

According to GOL’s website, GOL Airlines is the first Latin American airline to commit to net zero by 2050. Additionally, GOL Airlines has shared with investors promoting a Brazilian regulatory framework for producing SAF and active participation in the Brazilian Future Fuel Program.

Photo: Maarten Zeehandelaar via Shutterstock

Furthermore, over the past decade, as per Boeing's statement of November 14, 2013, GOL and Boeing signed a memorandum of understanding for biofuel collaboration. At the time, Paulo Kakinoff, GOL’s then-CEO, shared that,

"Boeing's focus on fuel efficiency helps us all operate in a more sustainable fashion, and the expansion of our partnership with this new project will further advance the effort to expand biofuel use in Brazil."

This partnership continues strong today with ongoing advocacy for, research in, and development of SAF supply.

The last word

The last word about the need for SAF came in a passionate defense of aviation where, according to Travel2Latam, Boeing’s Loomis said;

“The aerospace sector is essential for society. It is what protects and connects people, enables livelihoods and trade, provides humanitarian aid and national security, and enables human exploration of space. For this reason, we continue to look for different ways to increase the sustainability of this sector.”

Do you believe in sustainable aviation? Please share with civility in the comments.

Sources: AviacionLine.com, Reuters via Yahoo! Finance, Travel2Latam