BCG signs agreement with World Energy for its largest SAF-certificate purchase to date

Boston Consulting Group has signed an agreement for the purchase of sustainable aviation fuel certificates (SAFc) with SAF producer World Energy.

The agreement—a key part of BCG’s commitment to achieving net-zero climate impact by 2030—will run through 2028.

It is expected to deliver an emissions reduction of 100,000 metric tons of CO2 over the next five years, which is equivalent to flying 177,000 economy-class passengers round trip between Boston and London.

A hundred-thousand metric tons of CO2 would represent more than half of BCG’s air travel CO2 emissions in 2023.

The SAF will be made with state-of-the-art technology, refining hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids (HEFA) using waste fats, waste oils and other residues as feedstocks.

The high-quality fuel will be certified against the relevant industry standards to ensure its sustainability. 

The SAF certificates are expected to flow through the SAFc Registry, a globally accessible platform that aims to bring consistency and transparency to the SAF-certificate market.

This is BCG’s largest SAF-certificate purchase to date.

It builds on BCG’s long-term engagement with the SAFc market that began with its participation in the World Economic Forum-led Clean Skies for Tomorrow coalition in 2019.

BCG is also a founding member of the Sustainable Aviation Buyers Alliance and participant in its first collective procurement effort.

World Energy was the world’s first commercial-scale producer of SAF and currently offers the only SAF that is both Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials and CORSIA certified, delivering very-low carbon intensity, achieving more than 80 percent emissions reductions over its lifecycle versus conventional jet fuel. 

“Today’s agreement is a key part of our commitment to using cutting-edge sustainable aviation fuel for air travel as we focus on cutting the emissions intensity of our operations in half by 2025 and achieving net-zero climate impact by 2030,” said David Webb, BCG’s chief sustainability officer. “We are proud of the role we are playing to support the sustainable aviation fuel market. Scaling new climate technologies will play a fundamental part in reaching global climate goals.”

World Energy CEO Gene Gebolys added, “Collaborations of this type and magnitude are key to making decarbonization a reality now in the hardest-to-abate sectors like aviation. This is the fastest way to scale up production of SAF and expand its efficient distribution around the world. We are proud to collaborate with corporate leaders like BCG to help make their net-zero goals real and help decarbonize the aviation industry.”

BCG’s investment allows the company to make a greenhouse-gas reduction claim on climate disclosures, while the physical SAF flows to an aircraft operator.

The integrity of the transaction is digitally tracked and third-party verified through a ledger system chain-of-custody model known as book and claim.

This book-and-claim logic is similar to the one that has supported investment in renewable energy for many years.

This purchase is part of a collection of SAF-certificate deals coordinated by SABA of which BCG is a founding member.