_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ SAF
Meeting the challenge of setting up a successful sustainable aviation fuel( SAF) economy in Minnesota.
By Peter Frosch
Aviation currently accounts for two-to-three percent of global carbon emissions, and that percentage is projected to increase as other industries decarbonize. The most viable decarbonization option available for aviation today( and for the next decades) is sustainable aviation fuel( SAF).
SAF has the potential to reduce carbon lifecycle emissions of jet fuel by more than 80 percent. Globally, there is a huge demand for SAF but minimal supply. Places that succeed in scaling up demand will create economic opportunity in addition to decarbonizing aviation.
This is the opportunity pursued by the Minnesota SAF Hub.
The effort began in 2023 when Delta Air Lines approached GREATER MSP( the Minneapolis St. Paul Regional Economic Development Partnership) with a challenge: Could the organization muster the partners and the resources needed to make a high-volume SAF production value chain serve their secondlargest hub – the MSP Airport – a reality?
Minnesota has everything needed to create a new SAF industry. That includes a strong and diverse agricultural economy, cuttingedge research, supportive policy environment, strategic infrastructure, and a history of cross-sector collaboration.
Still, meeting a goal of producing 100 million gallons of SAF by 2035 is a daunting task with many lessons being learned along the way. To date, those lessons have included:
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