Alaska Airlines Partners with Shell for SAF Growth
Alaska Air Group, Inc
Alaska Airlines and Shell Aviation have partnered to go beyond the standard fuel supply agreement and expand the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) market.
The agreement involves the two companies working together to procure and use sustainable fuel while defining and advancing SAF technology, development, infrastructure, and investment. The collaboration combines Shell Aviation's fuel supply chain with the fifth-largest domestic carrier to accelerate the adoption of SAF.
Senior VP Diana Birkett Rakow stated that Alaska has been pioneering SAF for over 10 years and is now partnering with Shell to leverage its expertise and expand the market. She added that SAF represents the greatest opportunity for making significant progress towards net zero, but scaling up will require collaboration.
Under the agreement, Alaska Airlines and Shell Aviation will work together to advance the technology, infrastructure, carbon accounting systems, and public policy support needed to expand the SAF market.
The partnership will focus on making SAF more widely available and cost-effective in the long term, with a particular emphasis on supply to the West Coast and addressing fuel infrastructure challenges in the Pacific Northwest. Shell Aviation will supply up to 10 million gallons of neat SAF to Alaska Airlines' hub in Los Angeles.
Jan Toschka, President of Shell Aviation, expressed enthusiasm for the expanded partnership with Alaska Airlines and their shared efforts to decarbonise aviation through SAF supply in the West Coast and Pacific Northwest.
He emphasised the need for collaboration across the industry to achieve a sustainable future for aviation and stated that this agreement will help put the necessary technologies and supply chains in place to advance the industry.
Both firms aim to scale the SAF market by addressing cost and volume through various strategies to boost the availability and commercial viability of SAF.
Alaska Airlines' Ann Ardizzone said that with Shell's fuel supply chain and technical expertise, they aim to revolutionise the fuel supply on the West Coast. By using the fuel infrastructure proficiency of a significant fuel manufacturer, they can expand SAF access in more markets and increase the market scale of SAF to meet their environmental objectives.
SAF is a certified fuel that meets jet fuel standards and can reduce carbon emissions up to 80% of lifecycle emissions.
To learn more about Alaska Airlines' efforts to reduce its climate impact and achieve net zero by 2040, visit news.alaskaair.com/collection/planet.
Source: Alaska Airlines
