Petróleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) has secured Brazil’s first international approval to advance commercial-scale production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at the operator’s 239,000-b/d Duque de Caxias (REDUC) refinery in the Baixada Fluminense area of Rio de Janeiro.
In mid-October, Petrobras confirmed receiving notice that the REDUC refinery’s production of SAF via the hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids (HEFA) co-processing route complies with ISCC System GmbH’s International Sustainability Carbon Certification (ISCC) standards, validating that SAF produced at the site meets the highest international sustainability and lifecycle carbon emission standards.
Developed under the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) by the International Civil Aviation Organization, the ISCC CORSIA certification is a prerequisite for commercial-scale SAF production following rigorous assessment of the production’s lifecycle carbon emissions and traceability.
The certification—which follows regulatory approval granted by Brazil’s National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas, and Biofuels (ANP) in May 2025—now enables the refinery to produce as much as 10,000 b/d of SAF using a blend of conventional petroleum and up to 1.2% renewable feedstock, according to the operator.
By allowing integration of bio-based oils—such as vegetable oil—into existing refining infrastructure, Petrobras said the HEFA co-processing method allows REDUC to produce SAF alongside conventional jet fuel with minimal investment, positioning Petrobras to meet both domestic and international emissions regulations in the aviation sector.
SAF yields from the HEFA production route are also considered a "drop-in" replacement for traditional jet fuel, requiring no aircraft or fueling infrastructure modifications.
Under Brazil’s Future Fuel Law and the mandatory phase of CORSIA specifically, domestic airline carriers must begin incorporating SAF into international flights starting in 2027.
Aligned with the operator’s strategy of undertaking low-cost, fast-to-implement projects to further contribute to the decarbonization of the aviation sector, the REDUC project additionally reinforces the company’s goal of leveraging existing infrastructure to meet long-term, reduced-carbon goals, Petrobras said.
"SAF produced through co-processing is a competitive product that strengthens the just energy transition in the aviation sector and places Brazil at the forefront of the demands for [this] fuel of the future,” said Claudio Schlosser, Petrobras’s director of logistics, sales, and markets.
Additional SAF testing
Alongside its announcement of REDUC’s ISCC CORSIA certification, Petrobras also confirmed recently completing tests for production of SAF via co-processing of vegetable oil and traditional crude oil at its 252,000-b/d Refinaria Henrique Lage (REVAP) refinery in São José dos Campos, São Paulo.
Completed during the first week of September, 1.2% renewable vegetable oil was blended into the refinery’s traditional aviation kerosene production process to produce on-spec SAF using existing equipment and processes, the operator said.
Further details regarding future SAF production at REVAP have yet to be disclosed.
