eSAF is synthetic aviation fuel made from renewable hydrogen and captured carbon, and under EU rules it counts as a renewable fuel of non-biological origin. ReFuelEU aviation sets a separate sub-mandate for it: 1.2% of aviation fuel supplied at EU airports from 2030, rising to 35% by 2050, alongside the general SAF share of 2% from 2025 and 70% by 2050. That separate quota is the whole reason the product exists commercially, because eSAF cannot compete with HEFA on cost and is not meant to.
- 1Feedstock
- 2Conversion
- 3Specification testing
- 4Blending or neat supply
- 5Distributor, terminal or fleet
Most disputes happen at box three, and most delays at box four.
The sub-mandate is the market
Read this first: this is a market map built from public sources, not a client list. Naming a company here says nothing about whether we work with them, and we do not claim to represent any of them. ReFuelEU aviation requires fuel suppliers to blend a rising share of SAF into conventional jet fuel at EU airports: 2% from 2025 rising to 70% by 2050. Within that, there is a separate obligation for synthetic aviation fuel: 1.2% from 2030, rising to 35% by 2050. The European Commission publishes both trajectories.
That second number is the entire commercial case for eSAF. A synthetic litre cannot compete on cost with a HEFA litre made from used cooking oil, and it is not supposed to; it satisfies an obligation that a HEFA litre cannot satisfy. Anyone modelling eSAF against the HEFA price is modelling the wrong thing.
The regulation covers more than 95% of air transport departing from EU airports and replaces national SAF mandates, which is what gives a developer one rulebook rather than twenty-seven.
What counts as eSAF, in the regulation's own terms
ReFuelEU defines SAF in Article 3(7) and it is broader than most people assume. It covers synthetic aviation fuels from renewable hydrogen and captured carbon, advanced biofuels from Annex IX Part A feedstocks, biofuels from oils and fats in Part B, and recycled carbon aviation fuels. Only the first of those satisfies the synthetic sub-mandate.
Fuel suppliers may also comply using renewable hydrogen for aviation, and synthetic low-carbon aviation fuels and low-carbon hydrogen from non-fossil sources meeting a 70% lifecycle emissions saving. The distinction between these routes is not academic: it decides which obligation your product can actually be sold against.
What an offtaker will ask a project, and in what order
The questions that come up in every serious eSAF conversation are about whether the fuel will qualify, not about whether it will burn. In rough order of how early they arrive:
- The power basis. Whether the electricity meets the RFNBO criteria, how many full load hours the project assumes, and what happens in the hours it does not run. This is the single largest determinant of both compliance and cost.
- The carbon source. Where the CO2 comes from, whether it is biogenic, industrial or captured from air, and how long that source remains eligible under the rules as they stand.
- The technology route and who stands behind it. Electrolyser supply and the fuel synthesis step, and whether those are contracted or intended.
- Certification. Which scheme, and at what stage a pre-certification study is scheduled. This is the question that separates a project from a slide.
- Timing and the delivery window, against a sub-mandate that starts in 2030 and steps up from there.
- Whether the price is a number or a mechanism. For a first-of-a-kind plant with a start date years out, a fixed figure is rarely credible; buyers expect an indexed structure and a shorter first term.
Why the volume is not there yet
Most eSAF capacity being discussed today is pre-final-investment-decision. That is not a criticism of the sector, it is the stage it is at, and it shapes how the trade works: the conversations that matter now are offtake conversations for volume that will exist later, which is closer to project finance than to a cargo trade.
For an airline or a fuel supplier facing the 2030 sub-mandate this creates a genuine problem: the obligation arrives on a fixed date and the supply arrives when it arrives. That mismatch is what makes early offtake commitments valuable to both sides and is worth understanding before you enter one.
Where a broker is useful and where we are not
We are not project developers, we do not build plants, and we do not give investment advice. What we do is put projects in front of people who could credibly take the volume, and tell a developer plainly which parts of their package will not survive a counterparty's first read.
The most common thing we send back is that the power basis and the carbon source are described in ambitions rather than in contracts. That is worth fixing before an approach, not during one. Where certification work is needed we can introduce ISCC consultants and auditors we have worked with.
A note on accuracy
This page is built from regulation as published, from trade association and port material, and from reporting by the price agencies. Mandates get amended, terminals change hands and national implementation moves at its own pace, so treat this as orientation rather than a live position, and verify against the current text before contracting.
If something here is out of date or wrong, tell us and we will correct it.
Frequently asked questions
What is eSAF?
Synthetic aviation fuel made from renewable hydrogen and captured carbon, counted as a renewable fuel of non-biological origin under EU rules. It is a drop-in jet fuel, chemically distinct from HEFA SAF made from fats and oils, and it satisfies a different obligation.
What is the eSAF mandate in 2030?
ReFuelEU aviation sets a synthetic aviation fuel share of 1.2% of fuel supplied at EU airports from 2030, rising to 35% by 2050. That sits inside the wider SAF obligation of 2% from 2025 rising to 70% by 2050. The European Commission publishes both.
Why is eSAF so much more expensive than HEFA SAF?
Because it is made from renewable electricity, hydrogen and captured carbon rather than from a waste fat, and because the plants are first-of-a-kind. It is not competing with HEFA on price: it satisfies a separate sub-mandate that HEFA cannot satisfy. Comparing the two on cost per litre misses the point of both.
Does HEFA SAF count towards the synthetic sub-mandate?
No. HEFA SAF counts towards the general SAF share but not towards the synthetic sub-quota, which is specifically for fuels from renewable hydrogen and captured carbon. That separation is what creates the eSAF market.
What makes power RFNBO compliant?
The criteria cover the origin of the electricity and its relationship in time and place to the hydrogen production. It is the first thing a serious counterparty will test, and a project describing its power basis loosely will not get past a first read. Verify against the delegated acts as they currently stand rather than against a summary.
Can I sell eSAF before the plant is built?
Offtake agreements for volume that does not yet exist are how this market currently works, because the mandate arrives on a fixed date and capacity does not. Expect a buyer to want a pricing mechanism rather than a fixed number, a shorter first term, and conditions tied to how the regulation lands.
Do you broker eSAF?
We introduce projects to counterparties who could credibly take the volume, and we tell developers which parts of their package will not survive scrutiny. We are not project developers and we give no investment advice.
Market news
Recent headlines from across the feedstock and renewable fuel sector. Nothing specific to this market has come through the wires lately, so this is the wider view. The links go to the publisher; we do not host or edit their reporting, and a headline here is not our endorsement of it. Scroll for more.
- Call for papers on AI for circular economy: Intelligent algorithms for sustainable resource recovery
- NEDO, Kyoto University build world’s first hydrogen beamline at SPring-8-II
- Air Products and Nobian sign long-term agreement for RFNBO-compliant hydrogen
- Romania’s Senate approves green hydrogen law
- Namibia pioneers Africa’s first green hydrogen facility
- Hamburg starts building hydrogen connector for HH-WIN network
- Commercial use of green hydrogen gets under way in Czechia
- Kawasaki Heavy starts Kawasaki hydrogen plant with 18-ton daily capacity
- The Navy, Amyris, Emvolon, Haffner Energy and the Incredible Shrinking Refinery
- ICM supplying processing tech for Atvos’ Brazilian corn ethanol production plant
- Outage at South Africa’s Natref refinery
- Australian Government releases national maritime emissions reduction plan
- Circularity Communicated Conference 2026
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- New ABC data reveals how America’s biogas is used today
18 headlines, updated automatically. Last refreshed .
Sources and further reading
Primary sources for the rules and figures on this page, so you can check them yourself. Legislation is amended: always read the consolidated text on the date that matters to you.
Who to ask about eSAF and synthetic jet
Just ask. Developing an eSAF project, or looking for offtake? Tell us the technology route, the power basis and the intended start date, and we will tell you what a counterparty will ask before they engage. You get Bart van den Brug on the other end, same working day, in English or Dutch, and across the team also in French, Portuguese, Polish, Czech and Russian.
On how we work: on the feedstocks and fuels on this site we are a broker. We never take title, we do not trade our own book, and we are paid a commission on business that concludes. Additives are the one exception: those we also buy and sell for our own account, and we say in which capacity we are acting before you commit to anything. Either way you will hear it from us when the answer is no, or when your parcel is not ready for the conversation you want to have. A market read or a second opinion on a specification costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
Happy to look at whatever you have, even if it is half an analysis and a question.
+31 6 115 83 448
bart@sustainablecommodities.eu
Sustainable Commodities 3 B.V., Lemmer, the Netherlands
Ask about eSAF and synthetic jet
A direct line to the desk. We answer the same working day in almost all cases, and we will tell you plainly when a cargo is not something we can place.
Prefer email? bart@sustainablecommodities.eu · +31 6 115 83 448
Last reviewed 02 September 2026. Regulatory references are given for orientation and are not legal advice: verify against the current Official Journal text before contracting.