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Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI)

Objective

CAAFI’s goal is to promote the development, evaluation, and commercialization of drop-in alternative jet fuel options that offer equivalent levels of safety and compare favourably on cost with petroleum based jet fuel, while also offering environmental improvement and security of energy supply for aviation.​


Category
Stakeholders Action Group
Value-chain step
Full value-chain
Type of pathway
All
Starting time and duration
2006 -
Stakeholders
Airlines, aircraft and engine manufacturers, energy producers, researchers, international participants and U.S. government agencies
Regional scope
North America generally, U.S. specifically (and collaborating with similar institutions world-wide)
Involved countries
U.S.A., Canada
Status
On-going
Description

CAAFI is a coalition of airlines, airports, aircraft and engine manufacturers, energy producers, researchers, non-governmental organizations, international participants and U.S. government agencies that seek to enhance energy security and environmental sustainability for aviation by exploring and facilitating the use of drop-in sustainable aviation fuels (SAF).

 

CAAFI primarily serves as a means of exchanging information and coordinating stakeholder efforts. This is done through development of communication tools for evaluation of alternative jet fuel readiness, the holding of technical workshops, outreach to domestic and international aviation, energy, and financial industry forums, and communication with the news media.

 

CAAFI also serves in the role of initiating activities associated with supply chain business development, including the use of public-private partnerships as well as leveraging the funded activities of their sponsors and various government partner agencies.

 

CAAFI members are advancing the development of SAF through four focused teams, under the guidance of an Administrative Leadership Team, and with advice and consent from an industry Steering Group.  The teams include:

 

  • Fuel Certification and Qualification
  • Research and Development
  • Environment
  • Business and Economics


CAAFI priorities include the following:

1.       Communicate the Value Proposition of SAF – CAAFI will communicate the economic, social, and environmental benefits of SAF to the federal government, state and local governments, regional bodies, non-governmental organizations, private sector and public to broaden the base of stakeholders supporting SAF. 

 

2.       Enhance the Fuel Qualification Approach – CAAFI will promote a broadly supported, streamlined certification/qualification program and a more durable, higher capacity process to handle the significant queue of potential SAF candidates.  
 

3.       Develop the U.S. SAF Supply by Aligning Efforts to Enable Commercial Deployment – CAAFI will focus on real-world implementation by supporting feedstock and fuel project development, foster producer-buyer engagement that leads to offtake agreements, and build upon federal, state and regional supply chain efforts.

 

4.        Implement Frameworks & Share Best Practices – CAAFI will provide tools and share best practices to evaluate the readiness of feedstocks and fuels and their potential economic, social and environmental benefits. 

Partners
  • Sponsors: United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA), Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), Airlines for America (A4A)
  • Participants: 1200+ stakeholders, 500+ organizations
  • Federal Agencies in Public-Private-Partnerships: 9
Achievements to date
  • CAAFI is a key convening organization driving the formation and progress of SAF-related task forces to help get SAFs through the ASTM International testing and qualification process, starting with the Fischer-Tropsch SPK (approved 2009) (see the GFAAF Frequently Asked Questions page, Question 14 for a complete list of currently qualified SAFs).
  • CAAFI provides tools and resources to stakeholders to help them evaluate their readiness for SAF production, including:
    • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Fuel Readiness Level (FRL) tool developed by CAAFI and endorsed as a best practice by the International Civil Aviation Organization (November 2009).
    • Feedstock Readiness Level (FSRL) tool developed for evaluating progress of new feedstocks toward commercialization (CAAFI collaboration with U.S. Dept. of Agriculture; 2012).
    • Farm 2 Fly FSRL public repository of feedstock evaluations on USDA’s National Agricultural Library; evaluations are added on an ongoing basis.
  • CAAFI industry partners are enabling commercial pursuits through involvement with potential producers on research & development efforts, certification/qualification testing and review, commercialization assistance / investment, and flight demonstrations, such as:​
    • Regular Biennial General Meeting that convenes CAAFI’s extensive set of stakeholders for discussions, networking, and information sharing.
    • Ongoing CAAFI webinar series on key topics in sustainable aviation fuels
    • Ongoing development of aviation-fuel-specific techo-economic assessments (TEAs), greenhouse gas lifecycle analyses (LCAs), and supply chain evaluations for multiple fuels and feedstocks through  the ASCENT research program.
    • Formation of strategic alliance between airlines (via A4A) and the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), creating “single market” for alternative jet fuel (March 2010).
    • Aviation highlighted as a priority for “concerted effort” for biofuel deployment by U.S. government, including a multi-year effort that culminated in a U.S. Federal Alternative Jet Fuel Research & Development Strategy (June2016).
    • “Farm to Fly” efforts between A4A, Boeing and USDA leading to first of two significant USDA NIFA CAP efforts in Northwest U.S.
    • "Farm to Fly 2.0" (F2F2) public-private partnership and CAAFI State Initiative efforts fostering supply chain development activities and efforts.
Multiple national, international and state-level partnerships formed to facilitate research, development, evaluation and deployment of alternative jet fuels.
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