Airbus eyes Indonesia biomass for SAF

Airbus’s Singapore office has partnered with Indonesia’s Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) to explore the use of biomass in producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), aiming to source up to 100 million tonnes per year from the country.
The collaboration will conduct a detailed study of Indonesia’s biomass potential, covering resource availability, logistics, supply chain mapping and factory locations to reduce transport costs.
Meika Syahbana Rusli, head of IPB’s Surfactant and Bioenergy Research Centre (SBRC), said Airbus sees strong potential in Indonesia.
“Airbus is very interested in developing SAF from biomass and has identified Indonesia as a major potential supplier,” he said.
He noted that SAF currently made from used cooking oil, waste palm oil, and low-grade vegetable oils faces output limitations due to competition with food supplies.
Airbus estimates that by 2030, SAF will need to be sourced mainly from biomass.
Indonesia could produce up to 500 million tonnes annually - five times the company’s projected requirements.
Large volumes of unused palm fruit bunches in Sumatra and Kalimantan, along with rice straw in Java that is often discarded or burned, could provide key feedstocks.
However, Meika highlighted challenges including the difficulty of collecting biomass from smallholder farmers in areas with poor infrastructure, regulatory gaps and limited research on processing biomass into aviation fuel at scale.
Indonesia has seen rising biomass exports and domestic use, particularly of wood pellets and chips.
Environmental groups caution that the expansion of biomass could come at a cost. Auriga Nusantara, an environmental watchdog, reported that about 10,000 hectares of forest were cleared for biomass production between 2020 and 2024, with potential threats to endangered species such as orangutans if monoculture plantations expand.
Kast month, state-owned Pertamina’s refining arm, PT Kilang Pertamina Internasional (KPI), began producing SAF from used cooking oil at its Cilacap refinery.
Indonesia, the world’s top crude palm oil producer, has been testing bioavtur production from palm oil since 2021 and is also exploring cooking oil-based SAF.
If regulatory and quality tests are passed, the first trial flight is planned for August.
The energy ministry aims for vegetable oil to make up 1% of Indonesia’s bioavtur blend by 2027, as part of efforts to reduce oil imports and carbon emissions.