Scaling Sustainable Aviation Fuel: Shell, Accenture and Amex GBT Onto a Game-Changing Business Travel Digitalized Solution
Shell plc
Shell, Accenture, and American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) announce the new project named "Avelia," one of the world’s first blockchain-powered digital sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) solutions for business travel.
The first step consists of verifying the reliability of the book-and-claim approach by utilizing blockchain technology to ensure an optimal allocation of the SAF’s environmental attributes to companies and airlines after the fuel is distributed into the network. It will offer airlines and business customers the opportunity to avoid issues such as double-counting thanks to a transparent and accountable process that would also allow them to cut emissions within their respective scopes. The Avelia project relies on the largest SAF book-and-claim pilot at launch, offering around 1 million gallons of SAF.
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The project will give optimal directives on how to monitor the SAF world supply. It will increase the supply and use of SAF and speed up the transition of the aviation industry to net-zero emission levels.
The merit of this innovation goes to joint efforts between Shell and Accenture - with the support of the Energy Web Foundation (EWF) - to Amex GBT’s most refined and world-leading travel management services. These same players will be Avelia’s first customers; Shell, for example, has committed to purchasing environmental qualities equivalent to 100,000 gallons of SAF during the Avelia test phase. This number will go up as more SAF becomes available. By 2030, Shell wants to reduce 45 percent of its business travel emissions through SAF.
Jan Toschka, President, Shell Aviation said: “SAF is a key enabler of decarbonisation in the aviation industry, and it’s available today. However, it’s currently scarce and costs more than conventional jet fuel. Avelia will help trigger demand for SAF at scale, providing confidence to suppliers like us to further increase investment in production, and in turn helping to lower the price point for these fuels.”
Paul Abbott, CEO, Amex GBT said: “A truly viable route to decarbonising air travel is now open for business. We’re calling on all companies to join us and share the costs and benefits of SAF across the travel and aviation sectors. Airlines will gain access to the buying capacity of businesses, drawing from Amex GBT’s 19,000 customers around the world.”
Rachel Barton, Europe Strategy Lead, Accenture, said: “We believe every business should be a sustainable business and that sustainability will serve as one of the most powerful forces for change. Our vision for the Avelia platform is to bring together airlines, corporates, cargo players, and SAF suppliers in a trusted ecosystem that no individual company could build or access on its own. Blockchain technology will be piloted to help ensure trust via data integrity, validate proof of ownership, and enable transparent tracking of the environmental benefits of SAF for customers.”
Source : Shell