07 Jun 2026

Protecting SAF from Dilution and Fraud with *Future Fuels Trust™

By EVWorld.com AI Editorial Team

Ever bought a bottle of "virgin" olive oil or a Pooh Bear jar of honey and wondered if it’s the real thing? Chances are good it isn’t. That "100% Mediterranean Olive Oil" has likely been diluted with soy, sunflower, or canola oil - as much as 70% of imported olive oil has been cut to increase profits.

The same is true for "raw" honey. Thirty to seventy percent of honey on the global market has been blended with corn syrup, rice syrup, beet syrup, inverted sugar, or ultrafiltered to remove pollen and hide its origin.

It’s almost inevitable that the same problem will emerge—if it hasn’t already—in the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) market. Produced from carbon‑neutral processes ranging from reformulated used cooking grease to lipid‑rich algae, today’s SAF market is estimated at 300 million gallons and growing fast. By 2030 it will reach billions of gallons, and by 2035 tens of billions.

SAF is the biofuel replacement for Jet‑A, the petroleum‑based kerosene that powers the world’s jet fleet. It can be used straight in turbine engines or blended with Jet‑A, which is how most airlines use it today. If you’ve flown on Delta, United, Alaska Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, KLM, Lufthansa, JetBlue, or Emirates, you’ve likely been on a SAF‑blended flight. In fact, 50 airlines now use SAF, typically at a 30% SAF / 70% Jet‑A blend.

To date, 450,000 flights globally have been powered by SAF‑Jet‑A blends. I’ve flown Alaska Airlines many times to visit our daughter in Seattle, so chances are good we’ve been on a SAF‑powered flight ourselves.

SAF is blended at several points in the custody chain—usually at the refinery to create a flight‑ready drop‑in fuel. Fraud risk is low at this stage. But the further down the custody line you go, the greater the opportunity for dilution or mislabeling.

That’s where SAFlock™ comes in. Without revealing proprietary details, the core idea is to establish a tamper‑proof chain of custody that ensures the Carbon Intensity (CI) grade of SAF you purchase is exactly what you receive.

This matters not only for aviation safety—and for my own NetBoats project—but also financially for both producers and consumers. SAF is expensive: 2–4× the cost of Jet‑A, even before the current Strait of Hormuz disruptions. Buyers want to be certain they’re getting the real product, especially because SAF use enables operators to claim valuable emissions credits. These credits—similar to EV credits—can reduce the effective cost of SAF from $6–10/gal down to $4–7/gal. Corporations can also purchase these credits to offset their own carbon footprints.

One corporation with an Omaha connection making significant use of SAF is Columbus, Ohio–based NetJets, a tokenized private jet service. The Berkshire Hathaway–controlled company operates 845 corporate jets worldwide, roughly 20% in Europe and the rest in North America.

In 2024, NetJets purchased 19.4 million gallons of SAF, meaning NetJets alone accounts for 6–7% of global SAF consumption.

Given the enormous price gap between Jet‑A and SAF, the incentive for fraud is obvious:

“Take 1 gallon of $7 SAF, add 1 gallon of $2 Jet‑A, sell 2 gallons as SAF.”
That’s a $5 arbitrage per gallon—massive.

This is the same dynamic that drives fraud in olive oil and honey: high price differential + weak traceability.

Our newly renamed Future Fuels Trust™ secure chain of custody directly addresses this, virtually eliminating the opportunity for dilution, double‑counting, or misrepresentation. As we continue development, I hope to share more. The need is clear, and we are confident we have the solution to make the refinement, transport, and use of SAF transparent, secure, reportable, and immutable.

Original Source

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