PP&A structured the study around three research areas: the market's status, technology mix and forecast; the producers and project pipeline; and the core technologies by company and process. A second chapter covered business structure by value-chain stream, a cost comparison model and the certification process. The team combined secondary desk research on public project announcements, company disclosures and regulatory targets with in-depth interviews with three senior experts drawn from a global energy major, a SAF producer with aircraft-manufacturer supply chain experience, and a published authority on sustainable aviation fuel.

PP&A ran the work between October and November 2024, delivered an interim report, and closed with a final report that included a global plant-by-plant list of completed, in-progress and announced facilities with capacity, investment and technology pathway, a set of written expert answers to follow-up questions, and interview notes organized by research section.

The report gave the group a quantified frame. Experts expected global jet fuel consumption to grow from roughly 100 billion gallons a year to between 170 and 200 billion by 2050, with SAF rising from about one percent to a realistic 30 to 40 percent share, well short of the European Union's 70 percent requirement. Mandates in Europe were the strongest demand driver, the United States relied on tax incentives rather than requirements, and Singapore, Japan, the United Kingdom and India had targets in motion. Experts judged current production trajectories insufficient for the 2030 milestones and advised watching regulation closely, since incentives and levies were subject to rapid political change.

On technology, hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids accounted for 80 to 90 percent of production and would dominate through 2030, but feedstock limits on fats, oils and greases were expected to cap the pathway by 2040. Fischer-Tropsch synthesis using woody biomass was viewed as the most scalable long-term route, alcohol-to-jet was growing from a small base, and power-to-liquid remained early stage. The project inventory counted about 40 announced projects worldwide, nine operating and more than twenty in progress, led by Europe and the United States.

The economics were stark: SAF sold at two to three times the price of conventional jet fuel, a gap closed partly by US tax credits and by corporations paying a premium to meet sustainability targets. The certification chapter laid out the multi-year, multi-million-dollar ASTM path from initial evaluation to an approved blending annex, the eight approved pathways and the 50 percent blend ceiling. Together these findings gave the group a clear picture of where a new entrant could add value and where the risks lay.

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