Aviation-linked emissions are among the hardest to abate within a corporate footprint and, for many companies, business travel and air freight are among the largest Scope 3 categories left once direct operations are addressed. Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is one of the most credible levers to address this: a drop-in fuel that cuts lifecycle emissions by roughly 60% to over 90% versus conventional jet fuel [1]. Few companies can access the fuel itself, however.
SAF certificates (SAFc) solve this through book-and-claim: the fuel's environmental attributes are sold to the corporate buyer funding them, while the fuel is used by an airline wherever it makes most sense.
What a buyer pays for a certificate comes down to two numbers: how much more SAF costs than jet fuel, and how much CO₂ it saves.
The SAF premium
The SAF premium is the extra cost of replacing conventional jet fuel with SAF, quoted per tonne of fuel. Dividing it by the lifecycle emissions reduction gives the figure that matters: cost per tonne of CO₂ reduced.
On the premium side, SAF has historically cost roughly US$1,000–1,800 per tonne over conventional jet fuel [2], varying significantly by geography, pathway and timing. 2026 has been exceptionally volatile: the closure of the Strait of Hormuz sharply raised jet fuel prices earlier this year, temporarily compressing the premium [3].
The emissions reduction
When jet fuel is used, it releases new carbon that was extracted from underground – its lifecycle CO₂ intensity is about 3.8 tonnes CO₂ per metric tonne of fuel. In comparison, SAF is typically made from feedstocks that absorbed CO₂ during their growth, or from waste streams that would otherwise decompose and release gases anyway. Therefore, while SAF combustion produces a similar amount of CO₂ as jet fuel, the net lifecycle emissions are significantly lower, typically around 0.9 tonnes of CO₂ per metric tonne of fuel [4]. Overall, replacing one metric tonne of jet fuel with SAF typically represents a reduction of around 2.9 tonnes of CO₂ (3.8 minus 0.9 for a typical fuel, and more for a high-performing one).
The cost per tonne of CO₂ reduced
Dividing the premium by that reduction gives the figure to compare offers on: a US$1,000–1,800 premium spread over roughly 2.9 tonnes works out at about US$350–620 per tonne of CO₂, before incentives. Where incentives apply, notably in the US, the net cost falls to around US$200-300 per tonne of CO₂ reduced, and in some cases closer to US$150. That is the figure to keep in mind when thinking about a SAFc budget.
ClimeFi recommendation
Quotes come in different forms, so always convert them to cost per tonne of CO₂ reduced before comparing. Three questions tell you which part of the arithmetic you are looking at:
- Is this the full fuel price or just the premium over jet fuel?
- Is it the neat-SAF price? Some suppliers quote a blended-SAF price, but the neat price is what matters.
- Is it priced per tonne of SAF or per tonne of CO₂ reduced? And if the former, what lifecycle reduction does it assume?
The last question matters most, because CO₂ reduced per tonne of SAF depends on the feedstock and pathway, ranging from roughly 60% to over 90%[1], so a single tonne of SAF can mean materially different things. As a rule of thumb for a typical fuel (around 75–80% reduction), roughly 0.35 tonnes (around 450 litres) of SAF reduces one tonne of CO₂.
This article draws on ClimeFi’s SAF Certificates: A Buyer’s Guide [https://www.climefi.com/reports/saf-certificates-a-buyers-guide], with updated figures and sources. If your company has a material aviation footprint and would be interested in finding out more about SAFc, please do reach out at procure@climefi.com.
References
- ICCT, Understanding the GHG emissions of different SAF pathways, September 2025: https://theicct.org/understanding-the-ghg-emissions-of-different-saf-pathways-sept25/
- EASA reference prices put the HEFA premium over conventional jet fuel at about €1,350/t in 2024 and €1,285/t in 2025 (EASA, ReFuelEU Aviation Annual Technical Report; see [4]). Platts assessed the Northwest Europe premium at US$1,463/t on 27 February 2026 (see [3]).
- S&P Global Commodity Insights, European SAF premiums dip as jet fuel prices rise amid Middle East war, 12 March 2026: https://www.spglobal.com/energy/en/news-research/latest-news/refined-products/031226-european-saf-premiums-dip-as-jet-fuel-prices-rise-amid-middle-east-war
- EASA, ReFuelEU Aviation Annual Technical Report 2025: https://www.easa.europa.eu/en/document-library/general-publications/refueleu-aviation-annual-technical-report-2025
