Masdar and Boeing Collaborate to Advance Sustainable Aviation Fuel Industry Globally

Masdar, one of the world’s leading renewable energy companies and a global leader in green hydrogen, has joined forces with aerospace giant Boeing to advance the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) sector in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and worldwide. This collaboration aims to further bolster the commercial aviation industry’s objective of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was formalized through the signing of the agreement by Mohammad Abdelqader El Ramahi, Chief Green Hydrogen Officer at Masdar, and Kuljit Ghata-Aura, President of Middle East, Turkey & Africa at Boeing, during the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC) 2023.

Together, Masdar and Boeing will actively promote and facilitate the development and adoption of SAF policies, not only within the UAE but also on a global scale. Additionally, they will explore the advancement of SAF accounting principles, potentially eliminating geographical barriers as the SAF industry expands.

SAF, produced from sustainable sources like green hydrogen, has the potential to reduce carbon emissions by up to 85% over the fuel’s lifecycle compared to traditional petroleum jet fuel. It is widely accepted as a drop-in replacement for up to 50% of conventional jet fuel in current aircraft, offering substantial emissions reductions across all aviation segments in the next three decades.

Mohammad Abdelqader El Ramahi, Chief Green Hydrogen Officer at Masdar, emphasized the necessity of international collaboration and innovation to achieve global net-zero goals. As the UAE’s leading clean energy entity, Masdar is proud to partner with Boeing, a prominent aerospace corporation, to foster the development of sustainable aviation fuel projects. They aim to advocate for enabling policies that support this crucial market, leveraging their combined knowledge and expertise to create a more sustainable future ahead of the UAE hosting COP28.

Kuljit Ghata-Aura, President of Boeing Middle East, Turkiye, and Africa, expressed excitement about the collaboration with Masdar, emphasizing its potential to drive the growth of the sustainable aviation fuel industry, generate jobs, boost economic growth, and create significant business opportunities. He highlighted SAF as aviation’s most potent tool for decarbonization and noted the decade-long collaboration between Boeing and the UAE in sustainable aviation as evidence of their shared goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

Earlier this year, during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, Masdar announced its active involvement in an initiative centered on green hydrogen to produce SAF. This initiative is currently working with licensors to certify a new production pathway for SAF derived from methanol.