An interagency team led by the DOE, DOT, and USDA worked with EPA, other government agencies, and stakeholders from national labs, universities, nongovernmental organizations, and the aviation, agricultural, and energy industries to develop the SAF Grand Challenge Roadmap: Flight Plan for Sustainable Aviation Fuel. |
The Biomass Research and Development Board's Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Interagency Working Group’s goals include:
- Ensuring SAF R&D efforts reflect critical needs
- Advancing a revised and coordinated federal R&D roadmap on SAF
- Developing and scaling best practices to foster the success of SAFs in commercial, business, and military aviation sectors.
What Are Sustainable Aviation Fuels?
SAFs are drop-in fuel blending components derived from renewable or waste-based feedstocks that, relative to petroleum-based fuels, provide reduced CO2 emissions. SAF can increase the economic security of the aviation industry and promote U.S. energy independence. SAFs are an important bioeconomy market because they can be produced from multiple biomass feedstocks and conversion pathways, and are compatible with existing aviation engines, distribution infrastructure, and storage facilities.
Why Is SAF Important for the Bioeconomy?
The aviation sector is highly motivated to use cost-effective SAF for commercial, business, and military sectors because of the economic growth and job creation benefits they offer.
What Are the U.S. Government’s Objectives for SAF?
Federal government agencies have worked together to develop a comprehensive strategy for scaling up new technologies to produce SAF on a commercial scale. In addition to the objectives outlined in this interagency initiative, the federal government has several goals for expanding SAF. These include:
- Sharing information and key findings among federal agencies and coordinating communication activities
- Ensuring R&D efforts reflect the critical needs of commercial, business, and military aviation sectors
- Developing best practices to foster the success of SAF supply development for commercial, business, and military aviation sectors
Federal agencies involved in this area include:
- U.S. Department of Agriculture
- U.S. Department of Transportation – Federal Aviation Administration
- U.S. Department of Energy
- U.S. Department of Defense
- Environmental Protection Agency
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Federal agencies support many activities to expand the use of SAF, including:
- Fuel performance, safety evaluation, and specification development with the ASTM International
- Development of SAF feedstocks and supply chains
- Optimization of SAF production processes and economic and environmental assessments.
- Sharing information and key findings among federal agencies and coordinating communication activities
- Ensuring R&D efforts reflect the critical needs of commercial, business, and military aviation sectors
- Developing best practices to foster the success of SAF supply development for commercial, business, and military aviation sectors
What Progress Has Occurred?
The Sustainable Aviation Fuel Interagency Working Group has made the following progress to help the adoption of SAF:
- Published the SAF Grand Challenge Roadmap: Flight Plan for Sustainable Aviation Fuel
- Published the SAF Grand Challenge: October 2021–September 2024 Progress Report
- Published the SAF Grand Challenge Roadmap Implementation Framework
- Published the SAF Grand Challenge: Tracking Metrics and Mid-2024 Dashboard
- Coordinated agency information exchange and stakeholder engagement to understand industry developments
- Performed collaborative interagency research
- Developed outreach and education programs
- Issued relevant reports that might be of interest to the SAF research, production, and end-user communities, such as SAF: Review of Technical Pathways
Visit BR&D Board Publications to access publications related to SAF and the bioeconomy.