The inaugural Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Roundtable Forum was held at Pridham Hall, University of South Australia, opening the SAF Forum series that would later travel across Australia and China. Project team leader Professor Shane Zhang set the scene, noting that aviation currently accounts for 2.5 to 3 percent of global emissions but could reach 22 percent by 2050 if other sectors decarbonise faster, and pointing to SAF as a key part of the solution for this hard-to-abate sector. Julie-Anne Nichols of the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations delivered the welcome remarks, while keynote speaker Professor Anming Zhang of the University of British Columbia argued that combining carbon taxes with SAF subsidies would keep government revenue neutral more effectively than carbon taxes alone.

Speakers ranged across industry and agriculture. Oli Madgett and Professor Rachel Burton discussed agave as a promising, low-water feedstock crop for South Australia, where over 12,000 Tequilana agave plants had already been planted. Heather Bone (Team Global Express), Margy Osmond (Tourism & Transport Forum), and Patty Therrios and Jonathan Cheong (Adelaide Airport) covered decarbonisation targets and infrastructure readiness, and a panel chaired by Dr Xin Deng explored government incentives and skills training.

On the second day of the forum, the SAF team travelled to McLaren Vale with visiting delegates from Henan Junheng Biotech. They toured Oli Madgett’s agave farm and McLaren Vintners winery, discussing agave leaf-sugar extraction and grape marc as further potential SAF feedstocks, and explored future collaboration on South Australian biomass.

首届可持续航空燃料(SAF)圆桌论坛在南澳大学(University of South Australia)Pridham Hall举行,拉开了此后跨越澳中两国的SAF论坛系列的序幕。项目负责人Shane Zhang教授在开场中指出,航空业目前约占全球排放量的2.5%至3%,若其他行业减排更快,这一比例到2050年可能升至22%,SAF正是这个减排难度较大的行业的关键解决方案之一。National Foundation for Australia-China Relations的Julie-Anne Nichols致欢迎辞;主旨演讲嘉宾、来自University of British Columbia的Anming Zhang教授则提出,碳税与SAF补贴相结合,比单纯征收碳税更能有效维持政府财政中性。

论坛涵盖产业与农业多个领域。Oli Madgett与Rachel Burton教授介绍了龙舌兰(agave)作为南澳一种低耗水潜力原料作物的前景,目前南澳已种植超过12,000株Tequilana龙舌兰。Heather Bone(Team Global Express)、Margy Osmond(Tourism & Transport Forum)以及来自Adelaide Airport的Patty Therrios和Jonathan Cheong分别介绍了各自的减排目标与基础设施准备情况;由Xin Deng博士主持的圆桌讨论则聚焦政府激励机制与技能培训。

论坛的第二日,SAF团队与来访的河南君恒生物科技(Henan Junheng Biotech)代表团一同前往麦克拉伦谷(McLaren Vale),参观了Oli Madgett的龙舌兰农场和McLaren Vintners酒庄,探讨了从龙舌兰叶片提取糖分以及利用葡萄渣作为SAF原料的可能性,并展望了在南澳生物质原料方面的进一步合作。