Repsol lands RSB certification for its SAF

In Spain, Repsol has received certification by the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB), giving the company access to sell its sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) within the RSB Book & Claim System. This enables the multi-energy company to deliver SAF at specific airports and enter it into the RSB registry, thus, allowing customers at other airports around the world to claim the certified emission reductions associated with the registered SAF when purchasing their traditional jet fuel.

The book and claim mechanism addresses the supply-and-demand challenges that currently exist for SAF and allows the aviation sector to accelerate its decarbonization process. SAF is today only available at a limited number of geographical locations globally and delivering it to other airport locations can be costly and generate unnecessary CO2 emissions in the refueling process. RSB’s Book & Claim System helps overcome these obstacles and enables the growth of SAF use since it allows airlines and their clients to claim the SAF carbon reductions without physical access to sustainable fuel supply.

This chain of custody model has been developed to ensure full traceability and credibility, as well as a demonstrable climate impact by avoiding double counting in the process. The carbon reductions associated with the SAF will be registered as a ‘book and claim unit’ and transferred to any willing buyer globally, while the physical fuel delivered at the nearest airport will not have any sustainability criteria attached. Book and claim is currently only targeting voluntary markets, thus contributing to carbon emission reductions that are in addition to mandates and regulations.