Iwatani, Cosmo Energy HD, Cosmo Oil, JGC HD, REVO International and Saffaire Sky Energy are going to attempt jointly to develop a home-made SAF supply chain. 

The SAF (sustainable aviation fuel) produced from a raw material other than fossil resources is one of the items for decarbonization in the aviation industry which have been developed recently everywhere.

  In case SAF is produced 100% from the waste cooking oil out of food factories for instance, they say about 80% of greenhouse gases can be reduced in comparison with conventional SAF throughout the whole value chain including the procurement of raw material, production and combustion.

In Japan, the basic GX (green transformation) policy puts up a numerical target to replace 10% of aviation fuel with SAF by 2030. Attempts by the public and private sectors together have already been on the way, as seen in the joint venture named Saffaire established by Cosmo Oil, JGC HD and REVO International which completed under the subsidy of New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) a large-scale SAF plant (30,000 kl per year) in the premises of Sakai Refinery of Cosmo Oil in December 2024.

  What Iwatani attempts this time is to establish a complete domestic supply chain for a range from the procurement/collection of waste cooking oils, the above mentioned large-scale SAF production up to the transportation/sales to aviation companies. Concretely, Iwatani first explores the discharging sources of waste cooking oils utilizing its industrial gas and energy business network based on the consignment agreement to support procurement of waste cooking oils.

According to Iwatani, the company introduces and proposes the attempts this time to the customers who use lots of cooking oils, and supports them in the process up to signing of agreement for collection. The company first starts with its customers of LP gas for business and industrial use, and then will go further toward collection from general household consumers. 

Then REVO International collects waste cooking oils with the aid of Iwatani and deliver them to the plant inside the Sakai refinery operated by Saffaire. It follows that the SAF produced by Saffaire is transported for sale by Cosmo Oil to aviation companies. Cosmo Energy HD deals with the general management of the whole group and is in charge mainly of expansion of sales network and plays the role to help make a strategy. As for JGC HD, it will be in charge of establishing the supply chain as a whole with regard to the SAF production Project at this time. 

The plant inside Sakai Refinery, as of April 4 of release. planned to deliver SAF to Japan Airlines (JAL), All Nippon Airways (ANA) and other domestic airlines from April 2025. Further business expansion is now drawing people’s attention.  　

  For information, following the project Iwatani will participate in the “Fry to Fly Project” which is a joint project of public and private sector aiming for social implementation of SAF derived from waste cooking oils.

  Iwatani comments, “We wish to contribute to the realization of the project in the form to develop the sources of waste cooking oils.”