Federal Agencies publish SAF Grand Challenge report

The Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Grand Challenge 2021-2024 Progress Report underscores the Biden-Harris Administration’s “historic efforts” to build a thriving bioeconomy that benefits all Americans and addresses the goals set forth in the SAF Grand Challenge—a government-wide strategy for scaling up production of SAF that reduces cost, enhances sustainability and expands the use of SAF across the domestic airline industry.

With the aviation sector growing each year, there is no better time to invest in solutions that are both technologically and commercially ready today. Sustainable aviation fuel will provide low-carbon fuel made here in America to help decarbonize the hardest-to-reach areas in the transportation sector, and DOE is committed to supporting this effort which will lead to cleaner skies for all, said US Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm.

The new 2021–2024 Progress Report is based on the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge Roadmap, which aims to scale up SAF production to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 50 percent; produce 3 billion (US) gallons (≈ 11.36 billion litres) of SAF by 2030; and support 100 percent of domestic aviation fuel demand by 2050.

The Biden-Harris Administration has been the most supportive in our history of homegrown, renewable biofuels. The SAF Grand Challenge has been a pivotal component of this effort, scaling up the production of low-carbon aviation fuel, which in turn creates new revenue streams for farmers, taps into value-added climate-smart agriculture markets, and supports the clean energy transition in our transportation sector. USDA is proud to play a key role in turning the SAF Grand Challenge into a reality and help ensure the United States, and American agriculture, lead the global shift to cleaner, more sustainable energy, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

The Progress Report also defines metrics and baselines for progress toward these goals. Federal agencies have made strides in expanding domestic SAF production by releasing new funding opportunities and initiatives; providing expertise and technical assistance to industry; increasing interagency collaboration; and providing data, modeling, and analysis to decision-makers.

The Biden-Harris Administration has taken action to reduce carbon pollution and ramp up the production of sustainable aviation fuel through our Investing in America agenda. Over the past three years, as this Department has worked alongside our partners in the administration and the private sector, we’ve made measurable progress in reducing emissions and making our skies cleaner while also growing the economy and creating good-paying jobs, said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Since the launch of the SAF Grand Challenge in 2021, the new 2021–2024 Progress Report shows that the SAF Interagency Working Group has:

• Published the SAF Grand Challenge Roadmap in 2022, and the SAF Grand Challenge Roadmap Implementation Framework in 2024.
• Developed and released the SAF Grand Challenge: Tracking Metrics and Mid-2024 Dashboard in 2024, to be updated annually. Newly updated metrics in this Progress Report show that 30 million gallons (≈ 113.6 million litres) of SAF have been produced domestically in the first three quarters of 2024, up from 5 million gallons (≈19 million litres) in 2021. Currently announced domestic projects represent over 3 billion gallons (≈ 11.36 billion litres) of annual SAF production capacity — representing US$44 billion of announced investment — by 2030. If 100 percent of the announced capacity comes online as planned, production capacity will exceed the domestic 3 billion gallons (11.36 billion litres) per year by the 2030 target.
• Coordinated agency information exchange and stakeholder engagement to understand industry developments, including hosting SAF stakeholder events and financial workshops with agricultural producers, industry, and researchers.
• Performed collaborative interagency research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D) aligned with the roadmap action areas.

Collaboration with private-public partners

Federal agencies continue to collaborate with private-public partners including national laboratories, universities, nongovernmental organizations, and the aviation, agriculture, and energy industries to scale up production of SAF.

From feedstock innovation and conversion technologies to building supply chains, policy, and valuation analysis, and enabling end use, Federal agencies are accelerating innovation on the path to a decarbonized aviation sector.

For example, DOE funding helped develop and test a new method for producing SAF using ethanol, called “alcohol-to-jet” (AtJ).

This investment paid off—the technology has been commercialized, and the company LanzaJet has, with further DOE funding, recently opened the world’s first ethanol to SAF production facility in Soperton, Georgia (GA).

The facility can produce 10 million gallons of SAF a year and will help boost the rapidly growing domestic SAF industry.

SAF production is critical for the aviation industry. It creates new economic opportunities in agricultural and rural communities while reducing environmental impacts. It also supports US energy independence and global competitiveness.

The US transportation sector has become the largest source of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions in the country with aviation generating approximately 11 percent of US transportation-based CO₂ emissions that contribute to climate change.

As the global aviation industry looks to reduce emissions, the United States stands at a competitive advantage to grow this new industry. Key accomplishments also highlighted in the Progress Report from DOE, DOT, and USDA since the SAF Grand Challenge was announced in 2021 include:

• DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) has awarded US$151 million in funding for 28 pre-pilot, pilot, and demonstration-scale projects. This includes one SAF commercial deployment project. This funding is leveraging an estimated US$156 million in private-sector funding.
• USDA provided US$18 million in funding from the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Sustainable Agricultural Systems program for the development of three integrated supply chain projects, as well as US$30 million for a SAF commercial deployment project. This funding is leveraging an estimated US$175 million in private-sector funding.
• The FAA has invested US$5 million in the ASTM fuels clearinghouse. Two new pathways have been approved, and eight are currently at various stages of the approval process. This is leveraging an estimated US$100 million in private-sector funding.
• The FAA announced awards of US$249 million to advance the deployment of SAF through the Fueling Aviation’s Sustainable Transition (FAST) program. This funding was made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 and is expected to leverage at least US$83 million in private-sector funding.