Australian Initiative for Sustainable Aviation Fuels

The Australian Initiative for Sustainable Aviation Fuels (AISAF) was inaugurated on 8 August 2012. The Steering Committee held its first meeting on 20 August 2012.

AISAF is a public-private initiative that aims to facilitate sustainable growth of the aviation industry by:

• Bringing together Australian leaders in the aviation industry and in the components of the developing supply chain for sustainable aviation fuels (SAF)
• Promoting and driving the development of the SAF industry in Australia
• Undertaking collaborative work under the Memorandum of Understanding on SAF signed by Australian and the USA on 13 September 2011
• Undertaking collaboration work with other international partners.

Past Events

To highlight the most promising near and medium term opportunities for the production of sustainable jet fuel, AISAF hosted the Low Carbon Jet Fuel: The Industry Flight Path conference in partnership with AIRSHOW 2013 and the US Studies Centre on 26-27 February 2013.

• View event presentations

AISAF Steering Committee

The AISAF Steering Committee is chaired by Dr Susan Pond, Adjunct Professor in Sustainability at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.

Steering Committee members, listed below, are recognised as providing effective and consistent leadership of the SAF industry in their own business sectors.

Background to the Formation of AISAF

Worldwide, commercial aviation is taking a lead in stimulating the advanced biofuels industry as a potential solution to the sustainable development and growth of the aviation industry. Rising costs of jet fuel can make the difference between profit and loss and because of technical reasons airlines have no choice other than to continue to use liquid fuels. Airlines are also required to continue to reduce their green house gas emissions.

The peak industry body, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), has set a target for carbon neutral growth beyond 2020. To reach this target, the aviation industry is implementing a range of initiatives including supporting the development of carbon neutral fuels.

In May 2011, an aviation industry consortium from Australia and New Zealand Australia released the results of the Australian Roadmap Study conducted during the previous 18 months.

The Report, Flight Path to Sustainable Aviation (PDF), was released under the banner of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group.

It concluded that sustainable aviation fuels derived from biomass are feasible in Australia, and identified a number of actions for aviation industry, governments, and other stakeholders, including research, development and demonstration, commercialisation and sustainability and certification issues.

A more in-depth technical discussion of the modeling that underpinned the findings and recommendations was published separately by CSIRO in the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Road Map: Data Assumptions and Modeling Report.

On 4-6 March 2011, the United States Studies Centre and the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI) convened the Alternative Aviation Fuels Forum at AVALON 2011, The Australian International Aerospace & Defence Exposition.

On 13 December 2011, The Minister for Resources and Energy, the Hon Martin Ferguson AM MP, released the Strategic Framework for Alternative Transport Fuels (the Framework; PDF). The Framework outlines Australia’s long term policy approach to a market-led adoption of alternative transport fuels and includes 20 actions for industry, Government and other stakeholders to implement to address identified barriers to the uptake of alternative transport fuels.

Three months earlier, on 13 September 2011 the Australian Government (Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism (RET)) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the United States Government (Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Sustainable Aviation Alternative Fuels Development). The intentions of the MOU are consistent with Action 7 of the Framework, which seeks to encourage and continue international collaborative efforts in the development of alternative transport fuels.

The MOU provides for closer cooperation between the two countries in the development and use of sustainable aviation alternative fuels. Its principal objectives are to provide opportunities to exchange ideas, information, skills and techniques to collaborate on problems and projects of mutual interest in relation to sustainable aviation fuels development.

AISAF Roles and Responsibilities

The AISAF will be a strategic direction-setting group, which can advise the Australian industry and government on appropriate opportunities and activities to be undertaken by Australia and help guide the performance of these activities.

Specifically AISAF will:

• Implement the actions recommended in the Flight Path to Sustainable Aviation
• Facilitate the development of commercially available sustainable aviation fuel by encouraging collaboration and integration along domestic and international supply chains
• Assess opportunities for Australia’s biofuels development and identify activities to be undertaken to advance the industry
• Lead Australia’s collaborative Sustainable Aviation Alternative Fuels development work with the US under the MOU
• Oversee the work program activities in the MOU and seek to maintain cross-team visibility and coordination of activities.
• Identify gaps in research, studies and analyses of the challenges in developing and commercialising sustainable aviation fuel and, where appropriate, facilitate development of proposals to fund further research and analyses
• Encourage the sharing of equipment, information and personnel to establish a common understanding amongst AISAF stakeholders of the current state of sustainable aviation fuel domestically and internationally
• Prioritise efforts to focus on significant domestic and international sustainable aviation fuel developments that will improve the integration of activities essential to the development of a commercially viable sustainable aviation fuels supply chain in Australia

For further information

Dr. Susan Pond AM, MD DSc, FTSE
Adjunct Professor
Chair, Australian Initiative for Sustainable Aviation Fuels (AISAF)

United States Studies Centre
Institute Building (HO3)
The University of Sydney NSW 2006

E: susan@pondemail.com

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