Aviation Decarbonization - California’s Leadership in the SAF& Strategy
Join us for a high-flying night at the SFO Museum to learn about aviation's path to net zero over catered hors d’oeuvres! Get a ticket before they sell out!
The key lever to reduce aviation’s climate impact is Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). As a jet fuel compatible with today's aircraft and infrastructure, SAF is expected to contribute 70% of the industry’s carbon dioxide emissions reduction through 2050. Flights out of SFO refuel with among the highest SAF volumes globally due to California’s industry-leading Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) and SFO's dedicated advocacy. Collectively, these factors bring SAF closer to price parity with traditional jet fuel in California.
Join us for an exciting dialogue on how to reduce aviation’s climate impact at the historic SFO International Terminal Museum over catered appetizers and drinks. This fireside chat brings together critical perspectives from distinguished panelists across investment, SAF production, airline operations, and airport sustainability. They will discuss the role of SAF, clean energy technologies, and non-CO2 reduction measures to address the sector’s growing energy needs.
Moderator: Erin Cooke, Director of Sustainability + Resilience @ SFO
Panelists:
Ashwin Jadhav, Vice President, Business Development @ Twelve
Peter Ortez, Principal @ Munich Re Ventures
Elvis Ebikade, PhD, Sr. Sustainable Fuels Consultant @ Southwest
Agenda:
Museum doors open: 5:30pm
Panel begins: 6:00pm
Networking: 7:00pm
End: 8:30pm
The Museum is located pre-security in the International Terminal (A Concourse) near departures pillar 12. We encourage reviewing the detailed wayfinding instructions at very bottom of this page to plan your trip.
Meet our Panelists
Ashwin Jadhav is the Vice President of Business Development of Twelve, a carbon transformation company that makes everyday products from air instead of oil. At Twelve, Ashwin oversees the customer acquisition, sales and commercial strategy of Twelve’s sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) products. In 2023, he was named in the Top 20 Under 40 in Canada by Wings Magazine. Ashwin brings over 15 years of aviation industry experience in business development, strategy, sales, and marketing with companies across the aviation value chain like Pratt & Whitney, Bombardier and the International Air Transport Association.
Peter Ortez is a Principal at Munich Re Ventures and focuses on investments in the transportation and climate tech sectors, with a particular focus on science and technology-driven companies. Peter serves as a board director for Starfish Space and an observer in Found Energy, Okapi Orbits, Zanskar, and Salient Predictions. He also led the due diligence for MRV’s investment into Twelve. Peter holds an SB in aerospace engineering from MIT and earned an MBA at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. During business school, Peter spent time investing in deep tech companies at DCVC, and previously was a management consultant focused on disruptive technologies within the aerospace and defense industry.
Dr. Elvis Ebikade is a Senior Sustainable Fuel Consultant at Southwest Airlines where he leads Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) offtake opportunities, engages on SAF policy, and collaborates with downstream stakeholders on SAF distribution, blending and logistics. He is an accomplished SAF expert with 10+ years’ experience in low carbon fuels, circularity, and biomass valorization and experienced in building relationships with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) producers, policy lobbyists, midstream pipeline leaders and airport fuel farm operators. He holds 2 patents on biomass valorization and his > 10 research publications on biomass valorization and low carbon products have a total citation count ~300. Prior to his current role, Elvis worked at the Boston Consulting Group, performing market analysis, and evaluating competitive landscape for new sustainable fuels business development opportunities across agriculture and energy industries. Elvis has a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Lagos, Nigeria, an M.Sc., and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware.
Special Thank You
We would like to thank the Clean Energy Counsel, WSP, and SFO for sponsoring this event.
Clean Energy Counsel is a boutique law firm of highly specialized attorneys who balance deep market expertise with practical commercial experience. The firm offers a full range of legal services to support clean energy projects at every phase in their life cycle—through development, construction, financing, and ongoing operations. The CEC team gets deals closed and projects built, because they believe their clients’ success changes the world’s trajectory for the better. Advancing clean energy isn’t just a job at Clean Energy Counsel; it’s hope for the future.
WSP USA is the U.S. operating company of WSP, one of the world’s leading engineering and professional services firms. Dedicated to serving local communities, we are engineers, planners, technical experts, strategic advisors and construction management professionals. WSP designs lasting solutions in the buildings, transportation, energy, water and environment markets. With more than 17,000 employees in over 200 offices across the U.S., we partner with our clients to help communities prosper.
WSP is proud to have partnered with SFO over the last 30 years across a variety of projects including Harvey Milk Terminal 1 / Boarding Area B, Terminal 3 West, Energy Management Control Systems, and the AirTrain. WSP is currently developing a SAF roadmap for SFO that reflects the current SAF market conditions, production technologies, pricing, policies, and enabling infrastructure requirements. We are supporting airports nationally, including DFW, in reaching their carbon neutral goals by designing solutions for microgrid infrastructure to support their growing clean energy needs.
San Francisco International Airport is an internationally-recognized sustainability leader in the aviation industry for its history of climate action, environmental policy, sustainability reporting, alternative transportation, and socially and economically progressive infrastructure. With the airport’s responsibility to the communities it serves, SFO pursues projects, programs and policies that maximize social and economic benefits for all.
The bold charge set in our 5-Year Strategic Plan is to make SFO the first airport in the world to achieve three “zero” environmental goals: zero carbon, zero waste to landfill, and zero net energy. Combined with our strategic socially focused goals of caring for and protecting our communities, and of being a world-class dream team, these directives will enable us to lead the industry with triple bottom-line sustainability.
About YPE
YPE SF Bay Area is a local chapter of the global Young Professionals in Energy nonprofit network, which includes more than 40,000 members across 40 chapters. Our chapter alone has over 4,000 members. We facilitate the advancement of young professionals in the energy sector by providing opportunities for professional networking and knowledge sharing. We also host community and student events as part of our organization’s ongoing commitment to social and educational responsibility.
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Interested in sponsoring one of our upcoming events? Reach out to our board at ype.sfbayarea@gmail.com.
Ticket Prices
Tickets for this event are priced to cover the cost of catered food and drink at the SFO museum. As a non-profit, YPE allocates any proceeds towards YPE SF Bay Area's programming, including our Scholarship and Mentorship Programs. However, no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Folks with financial need are encouraged to email ype.sfbayarea@gmail.com.
Attendees consent to the use and distribution of the attendee’s image in future Young Professionals in Energy promotional emails and materials.