Council partners with Philippines Department of Transportation and Boeing for SAF Summit

By Caleb Wurth

As the Philippines moves toward unlocking the potential of synthetic aviation fuel (SAF) through policy and industrial innovation, the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) collaborated with the Philippines Department of Transportation and Boeing last week to conduct the first Philippines SAF Summit in Manila.

The one-day summit brought together a holistic group of stakeholders critical to the implementation and scaling of the Philippines SAF industry to discuss feedstock, technology, environmental and policy considerations pertinent to
SAF development in the country. Attendees included representatives from various Philippine governmental agencies, universities and multilaterals, as well as participants from the downstream fuel, upstream bioenergy and aviation industries.

Presentations and expert panels concentrated on feedstock dynamics, SAF technologies, international certification pathways, financing and investment and lifecycle analysis methodologies.

“SAF presents the Philippines an opportunity to onshore energy production by leveraging domestic resources and talent. The first Philippines SAF Summit underscored the SAF opportunity facing the country, which is well-positioned to capture this value and decarbonize its aviation sector,” said Caleb Wurth, USGC regional director
for Southeast Asia and Oceania.

The Philippines is the United States’ largest ethanol trading partner in Southeast Asia, consuming nearly 2 billion
gallons of gasoline per year. Ethanol production in the Philippines has increased by nearly 450 percent since its
E10 mandate began in 2013, delivering significant economic benefits to rural communities, alleviating pump prices for consumers and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector by more than 1.75 billion pounds of carbon dioxide annually.

In June 2024, its government approved and promulgated a discretionary E20 policy in addition to the existing E10
mandate, further underscoring the country’s commitment to being a global leader in biofuel production and utilization.

The Philippines, an archipelago country with 115 million people spread across 7,641 islands, consumed roughly 740
million gallons of jet fuel per year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Post-pandemic consumption has not yet caught up to those levels, though demand is beginning to rebound. It remains a significant net importer of jet fuel, further underlining the fuel security and economic value capture potential that SAF can provide to the Philippines.

The Council closely collaborates with the Government of the Philippines and the country’s biofuel and fuel industries to promote the wider use of ethanol in the country’s transportation fuel mix.

The USGC develops export markets for U.S. barley, corn, sorghum and related products including distiller’s dried
grains with solubles (DDGS) and ethanol. With a full-time presence in 28 locations, the Council operates programs
in more than 50 countries and the European Union. The Council believes exports are vital to global economic

development and to U.S. agriculture’s profitability. Find detailed information about USGC programs here.