SAF Producers
Most sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) produced today comes from the HEFA route (hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids). Oils and fats are hydrotreated, then hydrocracked and isomerised into a synthetic paraffinic kerosene known as HEFA-SPK, which ASTM D7566 allows to be blended with conventional jet fuel at up to 50%. The feedstock requirements resemble those of an HVO unit, with extra weight on documentation, because SAF is sold into compliance schemes that exclude crop-based biofuels.
What the process needs from the feedstock. As in renewable diesel production, phosphorus, metals, chlorine, nitrogen and silicon must be removed in pretreatment to protect the hydroprocessing catalysts. Chain length matters more than it does for road diesel. C16 and C18 fatty acids crack and isomerise efficiently into the jet range, while lauric (C12–C14) feedstocks such as PKFAD shift yield towards lighter products. Producers who optimise for jet choose their feed slate and operating severity with that trade-off in mind.
Key specification parameters. SAF feedstock contracts usually specify free fatty acids (FFA), moisture, impurities and unsaponifiables (MIU), iodine value, phosphorus, metals, chlorine, nitrogen, sulphur and polyethylene, plus a fatty acid profile where yield modelling needs one. The sustainability data matter just as much: feedstock category, country of origin, points of origin for collected wastes, and a greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions value or the data needed to calculate it.
Regulatory drivers. ReFuelEU Aviation requires fuel suppliers at EU airports to supply rising minimum SAF shares, from 2% in 2025 to 6% in 2030 and 70% by 2050, and biofuels made from food and feed crops do not count. The UK SAF Mandate follows a similar path. HEFA feed slates therefore rely on waste and residue lipids listed in Annex IX of the Renewable Energy Directive: Part B covers used cooking oil and category 1 and 2 animal fats, while Part A covers advanced feedstocks including palm oil mill effluent (POME). ICAO's CORSIA scheme recognises its own eligible fuels and certification schemes, so a lot certified for one scheme is not automatically eligible under another.
Recommended feedstock types. Used cooking oil is the most established HEFA feedstock. Acid oils, soapstock-derived oils, distillers corn oil, PFAD and PKFAD are technically suitable after pretreatment, but their eligibility differs between aviation schemes and some residues have been restricted, so confirm the status of each material for your compliance route before contracting.
Documentation. Ask for lot-specific analysis, the analytical methods used, and a proof of sustainability or equivalent evidence under the scheme you report to. Ask for the certificate scope with your quotation; a certificate for road-transport compliance does not necessarily cover aviation or CORSIA claims.
Handling and shipping. SAF feedstocks move in bulk vessels, ISO tanks and flexitanks, and palm-rich or animal-derived lots need heating to discharge. Keep materials of different sustainability classification physically and administratively separate, record every transfer in your mass-balance system, and sample at loading and at discharge so analytical and sustainability records stay tied to the same delivery.
Products for SAF Producers
Crude Sunflower Oil
Crude sunflower oil is supplied in two distinct types for fuel use. Standard high-linoleic seed gives good cold flow but weak oxidation stability; high-oleic seed reverses both, and the two are not interchangeable in a specification.
Used Cooking Oil (UCO)
Used cooking oil is the highest-value waste feedstock in the biofuel market, qualifying under RED II Annex IX for double counting. Frying degrades it, so free fatty acid, polymer content and moisture are confirmed per source.
Crude Soybean Oil
Crude soybean oil is the dominant biodiesel feedstock in the Americas. Its high linoleic content gives good cold-flow properties but the weakest oxidation stability of the major feedstocks, so antioxidant treatment is standard.
Crude Rapeseed Oil
Crude rapeseed oil is the reference biodiesel feedstock in Europe. Its high oleic and low saturated content give rapeseed methyl ester the best cold-flow behaviour of any major FAME, which is why it dominates in temperate markets.
Crude Palm Oil
Crude palm oil is the highest-yielding biodiesel feedstock per hectare of any oil crop. Its saturated profile gives an unusually high cetane number and excellent oxidation stability, at the cost of poor cold-flow behaviour.
Crude Palm Kernel Oil
Crude palm kernel oil comes from the seed of the oil palm fruit, not the pulp, and is a lauric oil. Its short C12 and C14 chains give the highest cetane number and the lowest cloud point of the palm-derived fuel feedstocks.
Soapstock Acid Oil
Soapstock acid oil is the generic acidulated refinery residue, made from whatever oils a refinery was processing. It is the cheapest fatty feedstock available and the most variable, so it is always bought against a lot analysis.
Distillers Corn Oil
Distillers corn oil is recovered from the stillage of dry-mill ethanol plants, after the starch has already been fermented. Because it is a residue rather than a crop, it qualifies as a waste-based feedstock under most incentive schemes.
Soybean Acid Oil
Soybean acid oil is the acidulated soapstock from soybean refining. It is the cheapest route to a soybean-derived ester, but its high polyunsaturate content gives the resulting fuel poor oxidation stability.
Rapeseed Acid Oil
Rapeseed acid oil is recovered by acidulating the soapstock from rapeseed oil refining. As a residue stream it qualifies as waste-based feedstock, and its high free fatty acid content routes it to acid esterification rather than the alkali process.
Sunflower Acid Oil
Sunflower acid oil is the acidulated soapstock from sunflower oil refining. It is generally paler and lower in phosphatides than soybean or rapeseed acid oil, which makes it marginally cleaner to process.
Palm Fatty Acid Distillate (PFAD)
Palm Fatty Acid Distillate (PFAD), rich in free fatty acids, is an abundant and low‑cost feedstock converted via esterification and transesterification into biodiesel (FAMEs) or hydrotreated renewable diesel (HVO), making it a critical waste‑derived resource for sustainable energy production.
Palm Kernel Fatty Acid Distillate (PKFAD)
PKFAD is the deodoriser distillate from palm kernel oil refining, rich in lauric and myristic acids. As a processing residue at high free fatty acid content, it is a low-cost esterification feedstock for biodiesel and renewable diesel.
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