Boeing and Wagner join to manufacture and utilise sustainable aviation fuels

Australian infrastructure, property development and investment management company Wagner has joined with Boeing to grow the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) industry to help meet Australia’s airline demand for jet fuel.

With demand set to grow 75 percent over the next 25 years Wagner, which owns the Wellcamp Business Park and Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport in Queensland, has established Wagner Sustainable Fuels to advance the project.

Boeing Australia, New Zealand & South Pacific sustainability lead Kim Camrass aid: “Wagner’s sustainability goals align with Boeing’s work to advance aviation decarbonisation and energy security through renewable energy including SAF, advanced technologies, operational efficiency, and fleet renewal.

“Our agreement is another step forward in realising the recommendations identified in the Boeing/CSIRO SAF Roadmap.”

The 2023 SAF Roadmap identified opportunities to develop a domestic SAF industry as well as the investment required in R&D to support emerging technologies.

“We’re working closely with the Australian Government’s Jet Zero Council to overcome the challenges required to build a domestic SAF industry, such as feedstock availability, supply chain constraints and aligning to international standards,” said Camrass.

Wagner Sustainable Fuels has begun the design and construction of Australia’s first steady supply of SAF at the Wellcamp Airport which will blend SAF to international aviation regulations.

The CEO of Wagner Sustainable Fuels Matt Doyle said: “The Wellcamp blending facility will demonstrate the greenhouse gas emissions reduction benefits of SAF for our customers, provide a focus for federal and state policy makers and introduce the supply chain to this potential $3 billion per year industry.

“We’re proud to contribute to the building blocks of a sovereign SAF production industry with this Australian-first facility and anticipate by the end of 2024, this facility will mark the start of the supply of SAF in Australia on a consistent basis.”

Unlike conventional jet fuel, SAF is produced from renewable sources – like agricultural waste, animal fats, vegetable oils and municipal solid waste – and significantly reduces carbon emissions over the fuel’s lifecycle.

Picture: Boeing/Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) being pumped into Boeing’s ecoDemonstrator