On Tuesday, May 27th, a conference dedicated to the promotion of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF), organized by the Spanish Association of Biocircularity (BIOCIRC), the Junta de Andalucía and Cox, was held at the headquarters of Cox in Seville (Campus Palmas Altas). It addressed issues such as the strategic role of Spain and, in particular, Andalusia, in the leadership of this key industry for the decarbonization of air transport.
The conference was attended by the Minister of Industry, Energy and Mines of the Junta de Andalucía, Jorge Paradela; the head of the Department of Bioenergy and Waste of IDEA (Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge), Carlos Alberto Fernández; and Margarita de Gregorio, CEO of BIOCIRC, among other personalities.
The Minister of Industry, Energy and Mines of the Andalusian Regional Government, Jorge Paradela, highlighted the Andalusian potential to contribute to the growing demand for SAF by airlines. In addition, he announced the launch of a “SAF promotion program to meet the needs of the sector” focused on the promotion of innovative industrial initiatives, the streamlining of permits and greater public-private collaboration.
Representatives of leading technology companies and developers took part in the meeting to give an account of how they integrate the SAF in their business plans in the renewable sector, and what are their most immediate projects in this area. The Air Transport Sustainability Alliance (AST), a multi-sector collaboration space that seeks the transition to a decarbonized aviation, was represented by IATA and Airbus, and both agreed that the UAS is the main and most immediate contributor to the sustainability of the aviation sector. From an international approach, investment companies such as Tages Capital, ECO2Fly-P2X Spain and Lightdale LLC participated to address investment opportunities in UAS projects in Spain and the importance of entering into global alliances to bring to market innovative projects and infrastructures that make them possible.
During the session, the report “How to make Spain a European leader in PAS” was presented, which identifies the enormous potential of our country, and which estimates 270,000 new jobs and a contribution of 56,000 million to the GDP up to 2050. Among the proposals included in the report to ensure that Spain leads this sector at European level, the need has been identified to establish an annual fund of 300 million euros to boost the production and consumption of SAF, financed through the income from the auctioning of emission rights.
Nacho Moreno, CEO of Cox, put the finishing touch to the conference, who pointed to the SAF as a great challenge that offers great advantages for the future of the energy transition towards a green economy. At Cox we are committed to taking on challenges and turning them into opportunities, honoring our motto “the power of impossible”. “The SAF represents a key piece to decarbonize complex sectors such as aviation. At Cox, we address the challenges of the present from the ‘Energy follows Water’ approach, where the integrated management of natural resources allows us to generate clean energy and manage the water resource in an efficient and sustainable way.”
PAS requires innovation and talent, and at Cox we are committed to technological innovation to promote circular solutions that connect water and energy. We have a clear commitment to be an active part of the change and to put our capabilities at the service of a more resilient and low-carbon future, through initiatives such as the SAF.
