In the United States (US), renewable fuels and chemicals manufacturer Gevo Inc. has supplied sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to support aviation's carbon neutrality goals. Gevo’s customer and global fuel supplier, Avfuel Corporation, has partnered with the fixed-base operator, Avflight Salina at Salina Regional Airport (KSLN) and Henderson Executive Airport (KHND) to provide SAF for aircraft headed to general aviation’s largest tradeshow: Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (BACE).
According to a statement, Avfuel will supply a blend of Gevo’s SAF to Avflight to fuel operators headed to Las Vegas, Nevada (NV) beginning October 17. Avflight has commitments by high-profile manufacturers — Embraer, Textron Aviation and Dassault — to fuel with the sustainable product en route to BACE as well as from other private operators. Avfuel Corporation will be flying their sales team to and from Las Vegas on SAF, refueling at KSLN and KHND.
Avfuel is doing a great job with these demonstrations. They are important because they show the viability of SAF, express to corporations that they have a choice when flying their corporate jets as well as educates other fixed based operators what is possible in what they provide their customers, stated Dr Patrick Gruber, CEO of Gevo.
To supply the fuel for this occasion, Avfuel acquired a concentrated delivery of SAF from Gevo and blended it with petroleum-based jet fuel. This mixture is then tested for fuel quality and to ensure it meets all standards associated with jet fuel.
The product has a net benefit to the environment across its lifecycle. Created from corn starch, for every one million (US) gallons (≈ 3.8 million litres) of the concentrated SAF that is produced, approximately 10 million pounds (≈ 4 540 tonnes) of animal feed and protein is sold into the food chain, and the final jet fuel product burns cleaner, reducing carbon emissions released into the atmosphere.
