Jet Zero Australia Pty Ltd (‘Jet Zero’) is an innovative company established in 2021 to produce low carbon liquid fuels for the aviation industry. Jet Zero’s first project, named “Project Ulysses” is designed to produce ~102 ML of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and ~11ML of renewable diesel annually, from ~200 ML of domestically sourced bioethanol. The production site is planned to be located in Townsville, Queensland.

A key objective of Project Ulysses is to achieve certification of its SAF under the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA). Lifecycles was engaged to assess the carbon intensity of the SAF produced by Jet Zero’s Project Ulysses, to support its certification against the CORSIA scheme.

Our scope of work included developing an Excel-based carbon intensity (CI) calculator tailored to Project Ulysses’ production system. The tool was designed to calculate the fuel CI across three production scenarios, accounting for variables such as feedstock and energy inputs. This analysis identified key supply chain hotspots, enabling Jet Zero to prioritise strategies for reducing GHG emissions in both SAF and renewable diesel production. While the tool’s primary aim was to calculate a CI score following CORSIA’s requirements, it was designed so that the fuel’s production system could be modelled in accordance with other potential international schemes as well.

The project also provided greenhouse gas and life cycle assessment computations to support Jet Zero’s Queensland Government environmental approvals process and its ARENA funding application. Finally, Lifecycles delivered an overview of the CORSIA certification pathway (via ISCC or RSB) and assessed other relevant international SAF certification schemes, including the US Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), UK SAF Mandate, and EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED) III.

The SAF regulatory environment is rapidly evolving. In Australia, the low-carbon liquid fuels industry, including SAF, has been identified as a priority under the Future Made in Australia Act. The forthcoming Guarantee of Origin scheme (planned for 2028) is also planned to allow fuel provenance and sustainability credentials to be tracked across the supply chain. Internationally, regulatory momentum continues to grow, further highlighting the strategic importance of establishing SAF certification and compliance early.