SET-listed energy conglomerate Bangchak Corporation has kicked off Thailand's first sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production facility project as part of efforts to achieve its net-zero target by 2050.
SAF is a biofuel used to power aircraft. Its properties are similar to those of conventional jet fuel, but it has a smaller carbon footprint.
Depending on the feedstock and technologies used in the production of the fuel, SAF can reduce life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions dramatically.
Bangchak aims to build an SAF production facility near its oil refinery complex in Bangkok's Phra Khanong district to manufacture SAF from used cooking oil and certain biofuel products for both domestic and international markets, according to a memorandum of understanding (MoU). The MoU was signed by Bangchak, its biotechnology arm BBGI and Thanachok Oil Light Co, which has more than 40 years of experience in the integrated vegetable oil business.
The production facility has been designed to have a maximum capacity of 1 million litres of SAF per day, said Chaiwat Kovavisarach, president and chief executive of Bangchak.
Used cooking oil can be legally traded only for the purpose of fuel production.
Despite a law aimed at restricting its usage in Thailand, used cooking oil has been smuggled into the country for food processing and animal feed production, according to media reports.
Bangchak wants to promote a positive use of used cooking oil as it pushes ahead with a plan to strike a balance between greenhouse gas emissions and absorption by 2050.
In November 2021, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha pledged during the UN conference on climate change that Thailand would achieve carbon neutrality -- a balance between carbon dioxide emissions and absorption -- by 2050.
The use of biofuel for jets in Thailand was first introduced to the public through a trial flight operated by Thai Airways International from Don Mueang airport to Suvarnabhumi airport about a decade ago, but the project was not further developed for use as a commercial service.
