New GHG accounting and insetting guidelines launched for SAF

In the Netherlands, the Smart Freight Centre and MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics have launched new greenhouse gas accounting and insetting guidelines for sustainable aviation fuel to facilitate the use of more SAF and help decarbonize the sector.

The guidelines outline an approach to insetting that is flexible enough to drive the long-term value chain collaboration needed to bring SAF use to scale.  At the same time, the guidelines include controls to provide entities along the SAF value chain confidence that emission reduction benefits from SAF are of legitimate origin, of a reasonable vintage, and are properly accounted for according to broadly accepted emission accounting methods.

More specifically, the guidelines provide air carriers, logistics service providers, freight shippers, business travelers, travel management companies, and fuel suppliers the details of an accounting and reporting system for SAF insets.  There are two key elements to the guidelines:

Directions for SAF emissions accounting, based on the Global Logistics Emission Council (GLEC) Framework and aligned with the GHG Protocol.

Principles of a book and claim chain of custody system for the clear and transparent tracking and disclosure of the emission reduction benefits of SAF.