When American Express Global Business Travel teamed up with Shell Aviation and Accenture to launch its blockchain-powered sustainable aviation fuel program Avelia in June 2020, its intention was to "put business travel at the forefront" of sustainability, said Nora Lovell Marchant, the travel management company's VP of global sustainability.
"We surveyed the landscape, and the biggest opportunity where we could play a role was in respect to aggregation," she said. "We had a unique opportunity in driving toward more sustainable aviation fuel."
The Avelia model enables corporations to buy SAF and contract for SAF specific to what type of fuel they want, and the environmental attributes associated with those are allocated only to the airline and company investing in them.
Since that launch, Avelia has brought on several airline partners and major corporate clients, including Google and Bank of America this year, joining last year's first client, Aon. This initial program was 1 million gallons of fuel, which have been fully sold, and Amex GBT aspires to add airline and corporate partners and reach about 50 million gallons by 2026, Lovell Marchant said.
Besides driving the Avelia program, Lovell Marchant also has been engaged with government bodies on SAF policy, seeking to reduce the risk in investing in its production, such as the push for tax credits per gallon of fuel produced.
In addition, Lovell Marchant has driven the TMC's relationships with such non-governmental organizations as the World Economic Forum, where it participates in the Clean Skies for Tomorrow initiative. Such relationships help ensure there are guidelines and standards in place as the industry grows, she said.