Euglena exploring SAF supply chain in Bangladesh

In Japan, Euglena Co., Ltd. announced that its “People’s Republic of Bangladesh / Research Project to Establish a Raw Materials Supply Chain for SAF in Bangladesh”  has been selected for the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s “FY2023 Supplementary Budget Global South Future-Oriented Co-Creation Project Subsidy.”

Japan aims to replace 10% of domestic airline fuel consumption with SAF by 2030, and several SAF production projects are underway. However, used cooking oil (UCO), the main raw material for SAF, is expected to experience supply shortages and price hikes due to growing global demand, making it important to ensure a stable supply of UCO and alternative raw materials, as well as to build a supply chain to secure raw materials. In recent years, UCO recovery businesses have been expanding in Asian countries, but in Bangladesh, UCO recovery businesses and cultivation of oilseed crops as raw materials for SAF are almost unexplored, and the country is expected to have a future as a new supplier of raw materials for SAF. In Bangladesh, we have been working for over 10 years on the Euglena GENKI Program, which distributes Euglena cookies to children free of charge, and on social businesses that support local farmers. As we are also promoting the commercialization of biofuel businesses, we focused on the possibility of building a raw material supply chain for SAF by utilizing the relationships we have built with local organizations and farmers. If UCO recovery and oil crop cultivation can be established as new industries in Bangladesh, this will become a new social business that will create local jobs and generate income by exporting raw materials for SAF to Japan. It will also contribute to reducing CO2 emissions, thereby helping to alleviate poverty and unemployment and achieving zero CO2 emissions .