Shell, Accenture and Amex GBT launch pilot for sustainable aviation fuel

Shell, Accenture, and American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) have jointly announced the launch of the sustainable aviation pilot scheme, Avelia. The scheme is a blockchain-powered digital sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) book-and-claim solutions for business travel. Book-and-claim is a solution that enables airlines to purchase SAF without being geographically connected to a supply site. The pilot is set to offer 1m gallons of SAF, a biofuel used to power aircraft that has similar properties to conventional jet fuel but with a smaller carbon footprint, enough to power almost 15,000 individual business traveller flights from London-to-New York. Avelia aims to offer airlines and business customers the opportunity to simultaneously reduce emissions, while ensuring transparency and accountability by avoiding issues such as double-counting. Developed by Shell and Accenture, with the support of the Energy Web Foundation (EWF), Avelia includes Amex GBT’s travel management services to aggregate global business demand for SAF. Jan Toschka, president of Shell Aviation, said: “SAF is a key enabler of decarbonisation in the aviation industry, and it’s available today. However, it’s currently scarce and costs more than conventional jet fuel. Avelia will help trigger demand for SAF at scale, providing confidence to suppliers like us to further increase investment in production, and in turn helping to lower the price point for these fuels.” Paul Abbott, CEO of Amex GB, commented: “A truly viable route to decarbonising air travel is now open for business. We’re calling on all companies to join us and share the costs and benefits of SAF across the travel and aviation sectors. Airlines will gain access to the buying capacity of businesses, drawing from Amex GBT’s 19,000 customers around the world.” Rachel Barton, Europe strategy lead at Accenture, added: “Our vision for the Avelia platform is to bring together airlines, corporates, cargo players, and SAF suppliers in a trusted ecosystem that no individual company could build or access on its own. Blockchain technology will be piloted to help ensure trust via data integrity, validate proof of ownership, and enable transparent tracking of the environmental benefits of SAF for customers.”