DOE, DOT, USDA, and EPA released an updated implementation framework for the outgoing Administration's Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Grand Challenge. The Grand Challenge called for 3 billion gallons of domestic SAF production by 2030, and 35 billion gallons by 2050.
The roadmap identifies a number of “gaps” that need to be bridged in order for the goals to be achieved. These include building more certainty in SAF supply chains, and expanding the availability of purpose-grown feedstocks.
The report also calls for using existing ethanol and petroleum industry infrastructure to quickly scale up SAF. Thus, the report wisely calls for both new resources and the optimization of existing resources to decarbonize the SAF supply chain.
It remains to be seen the extent to which aviation fuel decarbonization will remain a priority for the new Administration. However, international markets will continue to prioritize SAF, so American aviation industry participants may choose to push ahead with SAF development even if there is a lesser push from the federal government.
An interagency team led by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Grand Challenge Roadmap Implementation Framework in November 2024.
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