Ghana and other African countries are well positioned to tap into the multi-million-dollar Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) market due to the availability of raw materials on the continent, the International Air Transport Association has said.

“Africa is ideal for this; the continent is almost set up to do it. But is not something you can start tomorrow. It is not like digging up oil and refining it, it takes effort,” IATA’s Vice President for Africa and the Middle East, Kamil Al Awadhi, told AviationGhana on the sidelines of the 79th IATA AGM held in Istanbul last week.

Overall renewable fuel production is estimated to reach at least 69 billion litres (55 million tonnes) by 2028. Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) will comprise a portion of this growing output which is being achieved through new renewable fuel refineries and the expansion of existing facilities. Importantly, the expected production has a wide geographic footprint.

Trends supporting this optimistic outlook are already visible. In 2022, SAF production tripled to some 300 million litres (240,000 tonnes) and project announcements for potential SAF producers are rapidly growing.

IATA counts over 130 relevant renewable fuel projects announced by more than 85 producers across 30 countries. Each of these projects has either announced the intent or commitment to produce SAF within their wider product slate of renewable fuels.

Typically, there is a 3 –5-year lag between a project announcement and its commercialization date. This implies that further renewable fuel capacity out until 2030 could still be announced over the following years.

If renewable energy production reaches 69 billion litres by 2028 as estimated, the trajectory to 100 billion litres (80 million tonnes) by 2030 would be on track. If just 30% of that produced SAF, the industry could achieve 30 billion litres (24 million tonnes) of SAF production by 2030.

At present, it is expected that 85% of future SAF volume over the next five years will be derived from just one of nine certified pathways, being Hydrotreated Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA), which is dependent on limited availability of feedstock such as waste fat, oil and grease feedstocks (FOGs, recognized by industry as second-generation feedstock).

In Ghana and many West African countries, the raw materials for SAF production such as: cooking oil, plant oils, wood chips, treated straw, algae, municipal waste, waste gases and agricultural residue, are largely available.

For nearly two decades, Ghana has experimented with the production of plant-based sustainable fuels mainly from the Jatropha plant. The technology developed so far, has been only able to produce bio diesel for use by small-scale agro-processing machines.

The setting up of waste treatment plants in Accra and Kumasi by the Jospong Group of Companies holds a lot of promise for Ghana to venture into the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

The raw materials — organic and inorganic waste abounds in a country struggling to contain and properly dispose or reuse the millions of tons of municipal waste across the country.

Extant studies show that in Ghana, about 12,710 tons of solid waste is generated daily. The capital city, Accra, generates as much as 15,000 tons of solid waste per day. A research on the waste composition of Ghana’s solid waste in 2020 show that it is predominantly organic (60%), plastic (14 %), paper (5%), metals (3%) and glass (3%)

Indeed, the start of the generation of organic fertilizer out of the segregated organic waste at the Jospong Group’s waste treatment plants in Accra holds a lot of promise for future SAF production.