Japan plans to produce sustainable jet fuel from used cooking oil
Japanese companies plan to produce low-carbon jet fuel from used cooking oil, in line with growing global efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, especially from aircraft and other means of transportation.
Major renewable fuel producers are moving to buy widely used high-quality Japanese cooking oil, driving up its prices.
It is widely believed that sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), made from waste cooking oil, is a "trump card" in achieving the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions from the international aviation sector to zero by 2050.
The Japanese government aims to replace 10% of the jet fuel used by domestic airlines with sustainable jet fuel by 2030. Since Japan imports sustainable jet fuel from Europe and the United States, "domestic production of sustainable jet fuel oil is essential for sustainable procurement," according to an official at A major Japanese airline.
With this in mind, Japanese engineering group JGC Holdings Corp. is planning to build a sustainable jet fuel plant in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, in cooperation with two local companies - Cosmo Oil Corporation and Biofuel Industry Revo International.
The plant is expected to start operations early in fiscal 2024, producing 30,000 tons of SAF fuel annually.
GGC and its partners are scheduled to begin receiving used cooking oil in March 2023 from restaurants at commercial facilities operated by Mitsubishi Estate Co.
They have already started buying waste cooking oil from Kansai Airports Corporation, which operates Kansai International Airport in Osaka and other airports in the Kansai region of western Japan.
The GGC-led team will also look into the possibility of collecting used cooking oil from households in cooperation with the Sakai city government.
According to a related organization, total used cooking oil exports from Japan in fiscal 2021 amounted to about 120,000 tons, or 30% of the total, doubling from 60,000 tons in fiscal 2017. Export prices also jumped, to about 190 yen per kilogram. one as of November 2022, compared to about 80 yen two years ago.
Finnish renewable fuel producer Neste, believed to be a major buyer of Japanese waste oils, plans to increase its annual production of SAF fuel to 1.5 million tons by the end of 2023 from 10,000 tons at present.
An aviation sector official said that while foreign energy companies are stepping up efforts to purchase waste oil to produce SAF, the Japanese government should provide support to domestic companies to promote the use of waste cooking oil in Japan.
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