If sufficient finance is provided by the 2023 Farm Bill, sustainable aviation fuel is emerging as the most practical
route ahead for a decarbonized aviation industry.
An environmentally friendly substitute for extremely polluting petroleum jet fuel is sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The Department of Energy claims that because it is manufactured from waste materials and renewable biomass, it emits a small percentage of the greenhouse gases linked to existing jet fuel alternatives. SAF is even hailed as the industry's bridge from its current fossil fuel-dependent structure to a future where commercial aircraft will be propelled by hydrogen and electric engines.
Nevertheless, SAF is having trouble becoming profitable. Despite aviation's yearly contribution to GHG emissions of 2.5 percent, in 2022 SAF accounted for less than 0.2 percent of all jet fuel utilised.
"High cost, low production is currently the biggest problem facing SAF," stated John Hebert, senior policy adviser for transport at Third Way. "A commercial scale [SAF] facility might cost billions of dollars, [while] a demonstration or pilot scale facility might still cost into the hundreds of millions."
In order to alleviate this pressure, new laws like the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) have implemented incentives designed to attract the interest of investors. Businesses can receive up to $0.50 per gallon for even more emissions reductions, and $1.25 per gallon for fuels that cut emissions by at least 50% when compared to jet fuel under the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Tax Credit (SAFTC).
The primary goal of the Alternative Fuel and Low-Emission Aviation Technology (AFLEAT) award is to increase local production of SAF. The programme will receive $297 million over five years from the IRA to support projects pertaining to the manufacture, shipping, or storage of SAF.
Hebert stated, "Those are crucial stepping stones [to SAF commercialization] now," referring to the SAFTC and AFLEAT. They are insufficient in and of themselves. The 2023 Farm Bill enters the picture at this point.
The essential information on the Farm Bill
The Farm Bill is updated and enacted every five years. It was last passed in 2018 with $428 billion in financing.
Hundreds of billions of dollars are allocated to programmes encompassing crop insurance, wildlife conservation,
sustainable farming practises, and energy funding.
Although the Farm Bill appears to be primarily concerned with land management and agriculture, corporate
America is greatly impacted by the legislation. The beverage and manufacturing companies that rely on farmers
and other distributors for their production are eventually impacted by the commodities they support. Funds
designated specifically for the Farm Bill are essential to businesses developing cutting-edge technologies for
monitoring, assessing, and learning related to land, soil, and conservation data.
The ratification of the law has been postponed indefinitely, so the official budget for the 2023 Farm Bill is now
uncertain.
The potential of SAF under the Farm Bill
The money allotted for the energy title is one area where funding allocations are still subject to change due to the 2023 Farm Bill's delayed passage. Bioenergy production is included under Title IX, also known as the energy title.
"The energy title is maybe half of 1 percent of all farm bill spending," Hebert says. Furthermore, the Farm Bill's past iterations have all included, if at all, only a "very, very small piece" pertaining to SAF.
"The 2018 Farm Bill did not really call out sustainable aviation fuel specifically in terms of terminology," stated
Lesley Jantarasami, the Bipartisan Policy Center's managing director of the energy programme. "It was not really
on people’s radars."
The radar screens of legislators are blinking with SAF now, though. The Farm to Fuselage Act, or H.R. 5235, was brought to the House floor in August by Representative Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas).
A specific request to include SAF in the 2023 Farm Bill is made in H.R. 5235. Hebert's explanation for SAF's sluggish market penetration is echoed in the request that the Farm Bill "assist in paying the costs of the development and construction of demonstration-scale biorefineries to demonstrate commercial viability," which is made specifically.
The Section 9003 Loan Guarantee Programme, which is part of the Farm Bill itself, supports the creation of
advanced biofuels, renewable chemicals, and biobased products. The $250 million in federal funding reduces
the financial risk involved with the construction of SAF production facilities, "making it a lot more attractive
for the private sector," according to Hebert..
The legislature will have more time to guarantee that SAF and a sustainable aviation industry are included and
given priority as a result of the 2023 Farm Bill's delay. It is rarely possible to completely transform a market with
policy alone; active support from key stakeholders is necessary.
Delta Air Lines' sustainability office sent over a statement that directly addressed this even though the airline
was not available for an interview. The statement read, "We need everyone at the table, working together to advance policies that will support the commercialization of a strong domestic SAF industry in the United States."
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