Amex GBT, Shell and Accenture have teamed up to launch Avelia, a platform for purchasing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
Avelia utilises a “book-and-claim” platform which allows both
airlines and business travellers to purchase SAF credits to reduce
carbon emissions and their overall environmental impact on flights.
Even if SAF is not available at the airport that the buyer of SAF is
departing from, they can sleep a little easier at night knowing that the
sustainable fuel is fed into another plane in an airport where SAF is
available, which still drives a lower carbon footprint.
The concept behind this book-and-claim pilot aims to share the costs
and benefits of SAF across the business travel sector. Airlines are able
to access the "buying capacity" of corporate customers who, in a bid to
travel more sustainably, are willing to share the higher cost of SAF.
SAF is typically four to five times the price of normal jet fuel.
Shell and Accenture were responsible for creating the platform which
uses blockchain technology. The blockchain technology will enable
secured allocation of SAF’s environmental attributes to companies and
airlines after the fuel has been delivered into the fuel network.
Amex GBT’s role in this partnership is to aggregate global business
demand for SAF, which will increase fuel supply and usage, and further
the aviation industry’s pathway towards net-zero emissions.
"A truly viable route to decarbonising air travel is now open for
business. We're calling on all companies to join us and share the costs
and benefits of SAF across the travel and aviation sectors," Paul
Abbott, CEO of Amex GBT said. "Airlines will gain access to the buying
capacity of businesses, drawing from Amex GBT's 19,000 customers around
the world."
Avelia is the largest SAF book-and-claim pilot at launch, offering
around 1 million gallons of SAF for companies to purchase – enough to
power almost 15,000 individual business traveller flights from London to
New York.