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Fuelling the Sustainable Bioeconomy

Fuelling the Sustainable Bioeconomy was a landscape-level programme project led by RSB, and powered by The Boeing Company. It aimed to help the aviation industry play a leading role in tackling climate change, creating jobs, stimulating economic growth, developing rural livelihoods and protecting the environment – with key support from WWF South Africa and WWF Brazil.

By providing guidance on the sustainability of alternative fuels, bringing together relevant stakeholders, and integrating the bioeconomy as a critical part of the just energy transition, the project helped direct investment, policy makers, market development and research to support the emergence of a biocircular economy.

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Project details

Project dates: 2019-2022

Project funders: The Boeing Company

Project location: Brazil, Ethiopia, South Africa

RSB project team lead: Arianna Baldo, Carolina Grassi, Yitatek Yitbarek

Project aims

Brazil
- Assess SAF production routes from diversified feedstock
- Develop tools to support technical and economic assessment of SAF routes
- Develop regional supply chains and incentive the socioeconomic growth of smallholders
- Support and develop the SAF sector in Brazil
- Support SAF sustainability and biofuel policies
- Develop guidelines for sustainable cultivation of crops with focus on sugarcane and macauba
- Develop RSB Regional Sustainability Indicators
- Assess iLUC values for Brazil to support discussion of new SAF pathways for CORSIA

Ethiopia
- Develop a national sustainable aviation biofuel roadmap
- Explore and assess economic growth and job creation potential from the growth of a local biofuel industry
- Support the SAF academic course programme at the Ethiopian Airlines Academy

South Africa
- Develop RSB certification approach for invasive alien biomass
- Develop a SAF technoeconomic assessment for South Africa
- Support the development of the local SAF sector, with focus on sugarcane sector
- SAF sustainability policy advocacy