During the 3rd ICAO Conference on Aviation and Alternative Fuels (CAAF/3) in Dubai, during the UAE Year of Sustainability, eight founding entities announced the creation of the “Air-CRAFT” initiative, a research consortium based in the UAE that aims to develop, produce, and scale sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) technologies.

Air-CRAFT, or the UAE Centre for Renewable and Advanced Fuel Technologies for Aviation, is a first-of-its-kind initiative that will bring together entities across the value chain – industrial policymakers, aviation regulators, fuel producers, academia and researchers, aircraft and powerplant manufacturers, and airline operators.

The consortium’s eight founding entities include ADNOC, Boeing, Emirates, ENOC Group, Etihad, Honeywell, Khalifa University, and Masdar. While based in the UAE, the consortium will also engage with, and welcome the participation of relevant international entities as it progresses. The new initiative was announced on the sidelines of CAAF/3 today and ahead of COP28. The UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure supports Air-CRAFT. 

The UAE has committed to reaching net zero by 2050, and this goal can only be achieved by slashing the emissions across the board. Air-CRAFT will go a long way in supporting the decarbonization of the aviation sector, helping to make it resilient and sustainable well into the future.

Mohamed Al Mazrouei – Minister of Energy and Infrastructure

The collaboration supports the UAE’s National SAF Roadmap principles and the commercial aviation industry’s goal of net zero emissions by 2050. At CAAF/3 today, senior representatives from the eight consortium entities signed a strategic collaboration agreement to kickstart the Air-CRAFT initiative.

Scaling SAF is central to aviation achieving its net zero commitment by the middle of the century. Building a thriving local SAF economy requires collaboration across the value chain and we are honoured to have helped catalyse and now work with this esteemed group on Air-CRAFT to further spark SAF innovation in the UAE and beyond.

Brian Moran – Vice president, Global Sustainability Policy and Partnerships at Boeing

Our suite of technologies enables SAF producers to capitalize on a range of non-competing feedstocks, including waste fats, used oils and greases, biomass, ethanol, methanol and captured carbon dioxide, and we are fully committed to accelerating the local production and deployment of SAF in the UAE.

Mohammed Mohaisen – President and CEO of Middle East and North Africa, Honeywell

Potential research topics at Air-CRAFT include environmental impact assessments, feedstock and process optimization, and techno-economic assessments. Air-CRAFT will also establish relevant links with other academic and research institutions in the UAE and internationally.

The U.S. government supports Air-CRAFT being linked to the intergovernmental US-UAE ‘Partnership to Accelerate Transition to Clean Energy’ (PACE) agreement.

Emirates supports initiatives that contribute to the deployment of SAF. We’ve contributed to the development of the UAE’s National SAF Roadmap and power-to-liquids fuel roadmaps, and believe the UAE is uniquely placed to lead in this space with its policies, technology and infrastructure capabilities

Sheikh Majid Al Mualla – Divisional Senior VP for International Affairs, Emirates Airline

The consortium’s industrial and institutional partners will provide market demand, expertise, and technology to support research into the production of alternative fuels for the aviation sector, and extends an open invitation to UAE and international entities to join the consortium. Air-CRAFT is already in advanced discussions with key and strategic global players to be announced in due course.

Collaboration and innovation will be key to addressing all emissions and ADNOC is already working with our customers to help them transition to new energies.

Hanan Balalaa – Senior Vice President, New Energies, ADNOC

More about the UAE’s decarbonisation efforts

The UAE is a prominent player in the global energy industry and is actively working towards decarbonizing its economy. It was the first country in the Gulf region to sign the Paris Agreement, and also the first Middle Eastern and North African country to commit to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Adopting SAF is the largest decarbonisation lever accessible to the aviation sector. Due to financial, technological, or regulatory obstacles, no other technology platform is anticipated to substantially contribute to carbon neutrality targets for long-haul commercial flights in particular for the next three decades at the very least. Despite this, SAF is supply-constrained and needs to be scaled rapidly.

The UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure has published the National SAF Roadmap which has five principles to guide the industry in accelerating the decarbonization of the sector and transforming it into a regional hub for alternative aviation fuels. The five principles are:

• Establishing the Ambition: 700 million litres of SAF by 2030
• Accelerating SAF Technology Deployment and Innovation
• Developing the National Regulatory Environment for SAF
• Building Local Capacity to Boost In-Country Value
• Leading International Collaboration

The Center for Renewable and Advanced Fuel Technologies for Aviation (Air-CRAFT) will pursue the industrialization of SAF production and create an ecosystem to address the five principles of the National SAF Roadmap.