Sustainable aviation fuel could open the next big market for the renewable fuels industry but to get the project off the ground the Treasury Department will need to provide guidance for sustainable aviation fuel tax credits.
Sustainable aviation fuel is a potential 36-billion-gallon market, but the Treasury Department holds the key to unlocking that door says Geoff Cooper, President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association.
Specifically, Cooper points to a holistic life-cycle approach to measuring carbon emissions at all stages of ethanol production.
He says that guidance could determine if the biofuels industry gets the tax credits needed to make expensive SAF more attractive to the airlines which would boost investment in the fuel.
The ethanol industry was encouraged by the recent first-ever trans-Atlantic flight by Virgin Air using 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel. The airline claims it reduced carbon emissions by 70 percent over conventional oil-based jet fuel.
