Aloha SAF or Mahalo for the Money?: Hawaiʻi at the Crossroads of Aviation’s Future

The trade winds move softly through the palms. In the upland valleys, rain feeds taro terraces. On the shore, fishermen cast nets where their grandparents once stood. This is aloha ʻāina—not just love of the land, but a covenant with it, a rhythm of care and reciprocity.

Then came the jets. First as a marvel, then a lifeline, then an engine of growth so swift it changed the Islands forever. By 1958, when the first commercial jets touched down at Honolulu, Hawaiʻi was no longer faraway paradise but weekend escape. Tourism boomed, jobs multiplied, and with them came dependence: on imported oil, on air routes that connect the archipelago to the mainland, on a fragile web of supply and demand.

The paradox has deepened with every passing decade. Aviation keeps Hawaiʻi alive—but its fuels come from half a world away. The economy thrives on visitors—but the very magic that draws them is at risk of being paved over. Hawaiʻi cannot be just another Myrtle Beach with a longer flight and a higher bill. It is something more—something older and rarer—and the choice is now unavoidable.

The can has been kicked down the road since statehood. Today, the road ends. Will Hawaiʻi embrace aloha ʻāina,pioneering aviation that honors the land? Or will it say mahalo for the money and lose the soul that makes these Islands unique?

The Hawaiʻi Proposition

Hawaiʻi is a perfect test case for sustainable aviation fuel. Its circumstances sharpen the stakes like nowhere else:

• 🌱 Feedstock potential: Sugarcane and pineapple residues, forestry trimmings, restaurant waste, even algae—all are present, much of it under-utilized. Add in used cooking oil from the millions of tourist meals served each year, and suddenly a waste problem becomes a feedstock stream.
• 🌋 Large landowners: Maui Land & Pineapple, Kamehameha Schools, and others hold land that could host SAF partnerships. These are legacy players with the scale to move projects from dream to reality.
• ✈️ Airlines with a stake: Hawaiian Airlines is based here; Southwest has doubled down on inter-island routes; and every global carrier depends on Hawaiʻi for long-haul Pacific traffic. Demand is not theoretical—it’s already on the tarmac.
• 🌎 A cultural compass: Hawaiian values of mālama ʻāina (care for the land), pono (balance), and kuleana(responsibility) align with circular, sustainable fuels. In Hawaiʻi, sustainability isn’t just a buzzword—it’s an ancestral ethic.

The Islands import 85–90% of their energy. Every barrel of jet fuel arrives by tanker. Every disruption—pandemic, shipping delay, refinery fire—exposes the fragility of that system. SAF, made locally, could shift that balance: anchoring resilience in the Islands, capturing value locally, and modeling a path for other island economies worldwide.

Lessons from a Week of SAF Momentum

Globally, SAF development is accelerating—and the world’s projects hold lessons Hawaiʻi can’t ignore.

Europe: Gevo & Haush

Gevo, with its ethanol-to-jet technology, and Haush, a European renewables firm, are charting projects in Portugal, the UK, and Germany. Gevo brings patents and plant design; Haush brings investors and local connections.
Lesson: Hawaiʻi needs partnerships. Technology firms + landowners + airlines = the only way forward.

Canada: Indigenous Biomass-to-Fuels

In Ontario, Highbury Energy and WBCEC are advancing an Indigenous-led woody biomass project. Six years of pilot testing at UBC built confidence; cultural stewardship built community.
Lesson: Indigenous leadership is a strength, not a barrier. Hawaiʻi can build SAF the Hawaiian way.

United Kingdom: Waste-to-Jet in Lincolnshire

Nextchem and Velocys are converting municipal solid waste into SAF, with a 30 million liter plant due by 2030.
Lesson: Waste streams are fuel streams. Hawaiʻi’s landfill burden could become its jet fuel solution.

United States: Texas Goes Big

USA BioEnergy is building a one-million-ton biomass-to-fuel refinery in Texas.
Lesson: Scale matters—but modular design means Hawaiʻi doesn’t need Texas acreage to succeed. Smaller plants can thrive when fuel demand is local.

Indonesia: Pertamina’s UCO Refineries

Pertamina is scaling up used cooking oil refineries across three sites.
Lesson: Hawaiʻi restaurants generate enough UCO to start small. The Islands could copy Indonesia’s model, turning fryer oil into jet fuel.

EcoCeres: Waste-Based Expansion

EcoCeres is doubling its SAF output from waste feedstocks, touting 90% emissions reductions.
Lesson: Ambition pays. Hawaiʻi must aim for world-class carbon cuts, not token gestures, to be credible in global markets.

Policy, Finance, and Culture

Technology isn’t the only piece.

• In Europe, Gevo and Haush align with the EU’s ReFuel mandate.
• In the UK, government grants anchor Altalto’s project.
• In Canada, Indigenous-led stewardship helped unlock funding.
• In Indonesia, state-owned Pertamina anchors confidence.

Hawaiʻi needs the same scaffolding: state-level incentives layered atop federal 45Z credits, procurement commitments from airlines, and clear land-use pathways for SAF projects. Finance will only flow if the policy environment is reliable.

But in Hawaiʻi, culture is as powerful as law. Aloha ʻāina isn’t a slogan; it’s a worldview. Without it, the Islands risk hollow growth—mahalo for the money while the soul slips away. With it, SAF could be more than fuel. It could be a way to align aviation with the covenant of care that defines Hawaiʻi.

The Hawai’i Challenge

For Hawaiʻi, industry challenges are as steep as the opportunities. Local refiners must be brought on board to blend and distribute SAF, yet most facilities are tuned for petroleum imports rather than biomass or waste-based feedstocks. Transitioning them will require capital, technical retraining, and political will. Just as critical is the policy framework: Hawaiʻi has no Low Carbon Fuel Standard of its own, leaving projects without the certainty investors demand. Passing one would send a clear market signal, align the Islands with California’s model, and create the durable foundation for both aviation and marine fuel innovation.

Why This Week Matters for Hawaiʻi

These headlines aren’t just distant developments in Europe, Canada, or Asia. For Hawaiʻi, they land close to home. Every SAF advance worldwide is a signal flare for the Islands, because no place is more exposed to the vulnerabilities of imported fuel. When Gevo and Haush map ethanol-to-jet plants in Europe, it points to what partnerships could look like here with landowners like Maui Land & Pineapple. When Pertamina scales cooking-oil refineries, it reminds Hawaiʻi of the untapped fryer oil flowing daily out of Waikīkī.

And aviation isn’t the only frontier. The same technologies that turn waste and residues into jet fuel can be adapted for marine fuels, a critical issue for Hawaiʻi’s lifeline of cargo ships. Aviation keeps the Islands connected; shipping keeps them supplied. If SAF and sustainable marine fuels evolve together, Hawaiʻi has the chance not just to keep flying sustainably, but to keep sailing sustainably too.

The Road Ahead

The jet age came to Hawaiʻi with the promise of prosperity. But it also brought dependence on imported oil, tourism volatility, and a fragile monoculture economy. That tension has been papered over for decades, but the bill has arrived.

Hawaiʻi now stands at a crossroads. Build a sustainable aviation future rooted in aloha ʻāina—or double down on business as usual, chasing dollars while eroding the magic that draws them.

The world is watching because the stakes are universal. If SAF can work here—on islands utterly dependent on aviation, with no oil of their own—it can work anywhere. And if it cannot, then the promise of sustainable flight everywhere grows dimmer.

For Hawaiʻi, the choice is not abstract. It is immediate. The road can’t be kicked further. The question is simple, but the answer will shape the Islands for generations:

Aloha ʻāina—or mahalo for the money?