As Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) seems set to provide a best-as-yet alternative for reducing aviation carbon emissions, Gursimran Kaur and Jahnavi Tushar Trivedi, MSc Management students at Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, take us on a journey to Haffner Energy and its bid to scale sustainability to industry-level needs.  

Gursimran Kaur and Jahnavi Tushar Trivedi are Warwick Business School Winners of the CoBS 2026 Case Development Challenge, part of the Advanced International Certificate in Responsible Business Practices. With kind acknowledgements to Haffner Energy.

Every commercial aircraft burns roughly 20,000 litres of kerosene per flight hour. Across millions of monthly flights, aviation contributes about 2.5% of global CO2 emissions-excluding additional warming effects from contrails and nitrogen oxides. The imperative to decarbonise is clear. The challenge is how.

Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) has emerged as the most immediate solution. Unlike hydrogen or electric propulsion, SAF is a drop-in replacement compatible with existing aircraft and infrastructure, offering lifecycle emission reductions of up to 80%. For an industry with long-lived assets, this compatibility is critical.

Yet adoption remains limited. SAF accounted for just 0.6% of EU aviation fuel in 2024, while the ReFuelEU mandate requires 6% by 2030-a tenfold increase in six years. This is not aspirational; it is a binding industrial obligation.

At the centre of this effort is Haffner Energy, a French company with over 30 years of expertise in biomass conversion. Its recent pivot into SAF reflects both technological maturity and market urgency.

Thirty Years in the Making

Founded in 1993, Haffner Energy specialises in biomass thermolysis-a process that converts organic waste into hydrogen-rich syngas (Hypergas). Over three decades, the company has built a strong patent portfolio and deployed projects globally, primarily in renewable gas and hydrogen. Its move into SAF in 2023 marked a strategic shift.

“The turning point came when aviation’s need to decarbonise became urgent and it was clear that SAF could be one of the key solutions. We looked at what we could do within our technology and found great answers.”

– Ms Marcella Franchi, Chief Commercial Officer and Head of SAF, Haffner Energy

Ms Franchi’s motivation is not purely commercial. Reflecting on climate change’s visible impacts, she frames SAF as one of the few areas where industrial feasibility aligns with environmental urgency-an intersection that increasingly defines competitive advantage.

The Technology Edge: Biomass flexibility

A major constraint in SAF production is feedstock availability. The dominant HEFA pathway depends on used cooking oil and animal fats-resources with inherent supply limits. Other pathways raise concerns around land use and food systems.

Haffner’s SAFNOCA technology addresses this through feedstock flexibility. Its thermolysis process can convert a wide range of biomass residues-agricultural waste, forestry by-products, municipal waste, and industrial organic materials-into syngas suitable for multiple SAF pathways.

“We can use a wide range of sustainable biomass and residues. This gives us flexibility, enables local sourcing, and significantly expands our geographical reach. It makes projects viable in many more regions globally. I believe in collaboration to move forward quickly. We will be announcing new partnerships soon.”

– Ms Franchi

This “biomass-agnostic” approach is strategically significant. It allows projects to be developed wherever waste biomass exists, turning geography into an advantage. Haffner’s internal “Biomatch” capability further strengthens this by matching local feedstocks with viable project designs. Partnerships with LanzaTech and LanzaJet, alongside projects such as AeroVerde in Spain, demonstrate how this flexibility can integrate into full SAF value chains at scale.

The CORE100 Gambit: Tackling cost barriers

Despite technological progress, SAF’s primary barrier remains economic. Large-scale plants can cost over €1 billion, creating significant investment risk and slowing deployment.

Haffner’s response is the CORE100 programme-a modular, standardised approach to SAF production. Instead of bespoke mega-projects, CORE100 offers factory-built units priced between‚ €2-5 million, enabling smaller, replicable installations.

The impact is substantial:

• Up to 65% reduction in capital expenditure
• Faster deployment timelines
• Lower entry barriers for mid-sized investors

“What we need today is standardised, faster-to-deploy solutions, not one-off projects. The challenge is no longer proving SAF works, it is to deploy it at scale, and fast.”

By shifting from infrastructure-heavy projects to scalable manufacturing, Haffner aims to unlock investment and accelerate deployment. The early uptake of the programme suggests strong market demand for this model.

The Mandate Gap: Ambition vs Reality

Policy is driving demand, but supply remains constrained. The EU mandates a 2% SAF blend today, rising to 6% by 2030, while the UK targets 10%. Yet global production reached only 1.9 million tonnes in 2025-far below required levels. Airlines paid nearly $3 billion in premiums for SAF in 2025, reflecting both scarcity and cost. At the same time, policy design challenges risk raising costs without sufficiently stimulating supply.

This creates a structural tension:

• Airlines need SAF to meet mandates
• Producers need investment to build capacity
• Investors need certainty that only scale can deliver.

Haffner’s modular approach is designed to break this cycle by lowering risk and enabling incremental scaling. Importantly, SAF is not a standalone solution. Airlines are also pursuing fuel efficiency, operational optimisation, and fleet renewal. SAF is essential, but it is not a blank cheque for unlimited growth. This framing reinforces SAF’s role as part of a broader decarbonisation portfolio rather than a singular fix.

Building Ecosystems, Not Just Plants

Haffner’s strategy extends beyond technology into ecosystem development. Its projects prioritise waste-based feedstocks, local sourcing, and stakeholder integration. In Canada, for example, Haffner supports energy hubs where biomass suppliers are also stakeholders. This model distributes economic value locally and strengthens supply chain resilience.

Such ecosystem thinking addresses a persistent critique of biofuels-that benefits are concentrated while environmental and social costs are externalised. By integrating communities into the value chain, Haffner positions its projects as both industrial and socially embedded systems.

SAF as Energy Security

Beyond emissions reduction, SAF has strategic implications for energy security.

“SAF can be called sovereign aviation fuel, because any country with the will can produce it locally.”

Traditional aviation fuel depends on global oil markets, exposing countries to geopolitical volatility. SAF, produced from local biomass, offers partial insulation from these dynamics. For countries with abundant biomass resources, this represents not just an environmental solution but a strategic opportunity. In an era of supply chain disruption, this dimension is becoming increasingly relevant for policymakers and investors alike.

The Road to 2030: Execution is everything

The transition to SAF will be defined less by technological breakthroughs than by execution. The industry must scale production rapidly, secure investment, and ensure stable policy frameworks.

Key risks such as regulatory instability, price uncertainty and slow project deployment still plague the process. Yet, Haffner’s strategy-combining modularisation, feedstock flexibility, and ecosystem integration-positions it at a critical intersection of technology, economics, and sustainability.

Success by 2030 would mean:

• Multiple SAF plants operating globally
• Meaningful contribution to aviation fuel supply
• Cost reductions through scale and standardisation

Ultimately, SAF must evolve from a niche solution into a mature industrial market.

Download the Haffner case Study:

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Useful links:

• Link up with Gursimran Kaur and Jahnavi Tushar Trivedi on LinkedIn
• Read a related CoBS Insight: A Lower-Carbon Global Economy: Coordinating the different pathways
• Download this case featured in the special issue magazine Global Voice #36
• Discover Warwick Business School, UK
• Browse the learning opportunities at WBS and apply.

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