Palm waste emerges as key SAF feedstock in SE Asia amid UCO constraints

Up to 500 million mt of palm-based residues and biomass in Southeast Asia in Southeast Asia could be tapped to produce sustainable aviation fuel, helping the region diversify, beyond limited used cooking oil supplies, experts said at the MyAero SAF Symposium this week from July 1-3. In a wide-ranging panel titled “Beyond UCO – Sustainable Palm-Based Feedstock as a Game Changer for SAF Development in APAC,” experts from technology licensors, leading palm industry companies, and sustainability organizations stressed the urgent need to diversify SAF sources, emphasizing waste and residue streams from palm oil production as a largely unused solution. “We’re seeing a high level of interest in certified sustainable palm-derived feedstocks,” said moderator Thareq Ariffin Mohd Tajmi of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). “We’re not talking about virgin palm oil—this is about second-generation waste and residues like empty fruit bunches, palm oil mill effluent, and sludge oils ...