Jack, the Giant, the Beanstalk, and SAF: 
A Battle for the Golden Skies

In the old story, a scrawny farm boy traded the family cow for a handful of magic beans—and woke to find a beanstalk clawing at the clouds. In the modern version, those beans are billions of dollars in SAF investments, audacious policy mandates, and blockchain platforms curling skyward in defiance of gravity.

But the giant—the global fossil jet fuel complex—still sits in his castle above the clouds, one enormous hand clutching the golden goose. That goose is worth trillions over time: the vast, steady river of jet fuel profits, supply contracts, and geopolitical leverage that has fed incumbents for a century. And when the beanstalk starts to rustle the rafters, the giant rumbles awake. Fie, fie, fo, fum—I smell the fuel of the renewable one.

The Beanstalk Shoots Up

Yet this beanstalk is alive—green, renewable, a living supply chain straining for altitude. In Texas, XCF Global has already invested $350 million to bring New Rise Reno online and plans nearly $1 billion more to build a sprawling network of SAF plants across the U.S. and Australia, betting big that scale can unlock profitability.

In Poland, Orlen has become the first mover to offer SAF for commercial refueling at Warsaw, Kraków, and Katowice airports, giving European airlines a tangible way to blend low-carbon fuels into daily operations.

In Colombia, the stalk is putting down deep roots. LATAM Airlines Colombia and Fedepalma signed a five-year agreement to develop palm oil-based SAF, positioning the country’s agricultural sector as a pillar of energy transition. At the same time, Ecopetrol and Colombia’s Civil Aeronautics launched the “SAF Vuela” program, an audacious roadmap aiming for 450 million gallons of domestic SAF production by 2050. And to anchor these ambitions, Colombia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy completed the Regulatory Impact Analysis for technical quality standards, laying the groundwork for local production and consumption of SAF.

Even the skies themselves are sprouting green shoots. The Royal Air Force’s Red Arrows, Britain’s famed aerobatic display team, will fly their signature maneuvers this month using sustainable aviation fuel, following their first SAF-powered flypast over London for King Charles.

The Golden Goose Beckons

Why all this urgency? Because the golden goose doesn’t just lay golden eggs—it lays security, control, and incumbency. Whoever learns to scale SAF reliably and affordably doesn’t merely win headlines. They secure premium products, regulatory leverage, and the power to shape aviation’s next era.

And the tools to claim those golden eggs are evolving fast. The Avelia platform—developed by Shell, Accenture, and American Express GBT—lets corporations buy into the GHG benefits of SAF even when the physical fuel is elsewhere, blending blockchain accounting with real-world production. As of this spring, Avelia has tracked more than 33 million gallons of SAF and 300,000 tons of CO₂e reductions—a clear signal that the market for verified, tradeable emissions cuts is maturing.

But the Giant Awakens

The trouble is, the giant isn’t going to let Jack climb unopposed. In Europe, the ReFuelEU mandate is already stirring tensions. A Deloitte study prepared for Airlines for Europe (A4E) warns that requiring carriers to blend escalating SAF volumes without a level global playing field could widen cost gaps—up to 15% on key EU–Asia routes by 2030—and push passengers to non-EU airlines.

This is carbon leakage in its purest form: the giant shifting his bulk, flattening the stalk beneath him, daring policymakers to keep climbing.

Meanwhile, conventional jet fuel supply chains remain vast, cheap, and battle-tested. Incumbents have defended their golden goose for decades, with a mix of scale, lobbying muscle, and volatility that can make the SAF beanstalk look like a delicate sapling in a hurricane.

Jack’s Dilemma

So here we are: a beanstalk rising inch by inch, green and alive, yearning for the clouds. The higher it grows, the more exposed it becomes.

Will these emerging alliances, production commitments, and regulatory frameworks be enough to outrun the giant’s grasp? Can policymakers balance ambition with competitiveness before backlash brings the stalk crashing down? Will blockchain credits, airshow demonstrations, and palm oil partnerships buy enough time for costs to fall and volumes to rise?

Or will this be another cautionary tale—proof that even magic beans can’t defy gravity forever?

The Moral of the Story

Every fairy tale has a moment when the hero almost loses heart. When the stalk sways in the wind, when the giant’s shadow falls over everything, when it seems easier to climb back down and pretend the sky was never the goal.

SAF is in that moment now. The beans are real. The stalk is real. So is the golden goose. And so is the giant.

What happens next will be written by the ones willing to keep climbing—knowing full well who’s waiting above the clouds.