Renewable diesel and SAF

Renewable diesel (HVO) and sustainable aviation fuel are oils and fats hydrotreated into drop-in hydrocarbons; about 17 Mt a year, mostly from waste fats.

Capture · Bioenergy · No. 41

• Single chemical
• Feedstock: Crops and biomass
• about 16-19 Mt a year of HVO and SAF (2025, indicative, basis: US renewable diesel about 2.9 billion gallons (about 8.6 Mt), Neste 4.1 Mt sales, other EU and Asian producers); SAF 1.9 Mt in 2025 and 2.4 Mt forecast for 2026
• 1.4 t CO₂e per t
• HS 271020

Old chip-shop oil can be turned into jet fuel identical to the fossil kind, but only 0.6% of flights' fuel is.

Chart: Illustration: Renewable diesel and SAF

Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Oils and fats are reacted with hydrogen to strip out oxygen, leaving paraffins identical to fossil diesel; a standard plant turns only 15-20% into jet fuel.

Three things to know

1. Sustainable aviation fuel costs about twice as much as fossil jet, and up to five times in markets with mandates.
2. Diamond Green Diesel's two plants hold about 65% of US Gulf Coast renewable diesel capacity.
3. EU defaults put HVO from used cooking oil at 16 g CO2e/MJ, against 73 for palm-oil HVO and 94 for fossil diesel.

The journey

1. 1 Waste fatsUsed cooking oil, tallow, corn oil, soy
2. 2 Pre-treatmentMetals and phosphorus removed to protect catalysts
3. 3 HydrotreatingAbout 3-4% hydrogen strips out the oxygen
4. 4 IsomerisationSplit into diesel, jet, naphtha and propane
5. 5 BlendingSAF mixed up to 50% with jet fuel

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