A new investigation into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) supply chains reveals that palm oil fraud may be undermining the climate benefits airlines claim. The article reports that used cooking oil imported from Asia, which qualifies for double carbon credits under UK rules, may actually be virgin palm oil mislabeled as waste. If true, this would mean SAF flights could release more CO2 than conventional jet fuel once land use change is accounted for. Experts cited in the piece warn that relying on crop-based SAF could release gigatonnes of rainforest carbon into the atmosphere. The UK's SAF mandate aims to source a significant portion of jet fuel from sustainable feedstocks, but the article questions whether the current verification system can catch fraud. For anyone tracking carbon accounting in the aviation sector, this highlights a gap between policy intent and real-world emissions outcomes.
