Colombia's Sustainable Aviation Fuel Production May Require 164,000 Hectares of New Oil Palm Plantations

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On November 13, former Colombian Minister of Agriculture Andrés Valencia presented estimates on the supply and demand implications of Colombian palm oil entering the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) feedstock market: by 2035, aviation fuel production could generate additional annual palm oil demand of 600,000 tonnes, corresponding to at least 164,000 hectares of new oil palm plantations. This projection is based on the ICAO Council's approval on November 10 of Colombia's palm oil-related emission values, incorporating them into the scope of eligible SAF feedstocks.

Valencia stated that the projected additional annual demand of 600,000 tonnes is equivalent to Colombia's current palm oil supply used for biodiesel production or the edible oils and fats market. If the aviation fuel market reaches this procurement scale, the palm oil industry will need to expand plantation area and processing capacity, while coordinating feedstock supply among existing markets including aviation fuel, biodiesel, and food processing.

Colombia already possesses a certain agricultural and processing foundation. According to statistics from the National Federation of Oil Palm Growers of Colombia (Fedepalma), as of the end of 2025, the country's oil palm plantation area reached 640,967 hectares, with annual palm oil production of 1.928 million tonnes; in the 12 months ending September 2026, cumulative palm oil production reached 1.99 million tonnes. Colombia is currently the world's fourth-largest palm oil producer and the largest producer in the Americas.

Industry expansion also involves coordination between growers and processing enterprises. Colombia has more than 8,000 oil palm producers, of which approximately 74% are smallholders. As the aviation fuel market may generate new feedstock demand, the cultivation sector will need to increase supply capacity, while the processing sector will need to improve oil extraction, refining, feedstock certification, and supply chain traceability systems. Industry enterprises will also need to establish stable feedstock supply relationships through long-term procurement agreements.

Fedepalma's previously proposed preliminary scenarios include building at least two sustainable aviation fuel production plants in Colombia, with potential investment across the entire industrial chain exceeding US$4.5 billion, expected to create more than 150,000 direct and indirect jobs, covering oil palm cultivation, feedstock processing, and aviation fuel production.

In addition to building dedicated aviation fuel production facilities, Colombia can also utilize existing refinery facilities for co-processing of renewable feedstocks. Fedepalma disclosed that Colombia's national oil company Ecopetrol already possesses the technical conditions for co-processing renewable feedstocks including palm oil, and can study aviation fuel production options in conjunction with existing refinery facilities. This pathway, running in parallel with new dedicated production plants, provides different industrial implementation approaches for feedstocks to enter the aviation fuel processing stage.

The basis for this ICAO recognition includes relevant World Bank research. Colombia's submission covers progress in zero-deforestation and low-emission production practices in oil palm production. Preliminary technical estimates published by Fedepalma show that sustainable aviation fuel produced from Colombian palm oil can achieve life-cycle greenhouse gas emission reductions of up to 55%, with the specific reduction depending on cultivation, processing, and supply chain conditions.