The rapidly growing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) industry has quickly attracted a host of entrants from established energy and fuel companies. But in unchartered territory peppered with differing targets, multiple production pathways, and even more new and developing technologies, there are few maps to guide producers to certain success.So how can SAF producers ensure they choose a provider that not only delivers top-performing solutions, equipment and catalysts as a one-off transaction, but also one that can also support and grow with them as a knowledge- and service-focused partner, over a full lifecycle? In this burgeoning industry, a partner should seek to work with a producer, guiding and helping them optimize as production and goals mature or as legislation, feedstocks and pathways evolve over the plant’s lifetime.A few years back when the industry was still only asking for renewable diesel, one producer was seeking a technology provider for a new plant that would make SAF via hydroprocessing. What developed was a strong partnership that continues to grow today. For the initial project, the customer goal was to construct a plant that would produce only SAF and no diesel, a request that was quite unusual back in 2018. It was a unique request from a company we had not worked with before in the relatively immature area of SAF. But there is nothing more exciting to us than a completely novel challenge.&nbsp;In such a scenario, the top priority is usually to identify and to set about closing knowledge gaps. For instance, it is vital to our approach that we work closely with customers to get a deep understanding of the particular project and their longer-term goals. This allows the establishment of a partnership and close collaboration that stretches past delivering a successful single project and into a lasting expertise and service-based affiliation.&nbsp;It is important to recognize that SAF is still a new fuel product with new specifications that require new process steps and new technical approaches. The challenges do not stop at technical design—it is vital to understand long-term objectives to support the customer in the best way possible and throughout any changes that arise, such as in the demand landscape, new feedstocks, and legislation and incentivization.Intelligent, Knowledge-Based Partnerships&nbsp; Close collaboration and trust are central to delivering long-term value for the customer and future-proofing their business. Topsoe’s R&amp;D division is constantly working not only to develop and innovate new technologies, but to improve and optimize those already in operation. As we learn and optimize, we are eager to pass on improvements to the relevant customers. In a developing industry like SAF, improvements to a customer’s production cost can come about if they have a knowledgeable and in-tune technology partner that continually invests in R&amp;D and passes on any breakthroughs and optimizations.From the customer side, if they decide or need to explore other feedstocks, processes or targeted products, we can help support any potential changes or adjustments. For instance, Topsoe can help fully scope a feedstock change, as we have completed significant testing across all major SAF feedstocks and have a large feedstock library. We are continuously undertaking R&amp;D on feedstocks, meaning that the unit a customer buys from us is specifically designed for their exact purpose, but we place an emphasis on in-built flexibility. Should the feedstock change, they can call us, and we will have the answer for what they should do.&nbsp;As SAF technology develops and ambitions increase, new questions and challenges will arise. From decades of experience with new technology development, Topsoe has several best practices for successful partnership in SAF.&nbsp;Constant, transparent communication. &nbsp;When breaking new ground, there must be a lot of constructive, forward-thinking dialogue; this ensures everyone is on top of latest developments, the customer’s goals are always in sight, and there is high transparency in terms of technology and design. The question “If we change that, then how will that impact other factors?” is a recurring conversation, but one that makes sure aims are met. This open dialogue also builds long-term customer trust, where Topsoe becomes a value-driving partner and not a licensor making a one-off sale.&nbsp;Test and design—and be flexible. Testing is obviously a key component in ascertaining how customer goals can be met. It also defines the optimal design of the production facility. In the case mentioned earlier, we showed we could meet unique demands through a tailormade solution and by remaining flexible to customer needs. Remember, things change—sometimes customer requirements, other times it might be a new challenge, a technological development or an optimization opportunity. It is crucial to be flexible if circumstances alter. &nbsp;Customer-focused partnership. R&amp;D-driven innovation, experience-based knowledge, attentive, service-minded experts and trust-based collaboration are the four pillars of Topsoe’s partnerships. We constantly learn, innovate and improve, and pass these benefits on to customers; we bring vast experience and hands-on knowhow to each project, covering testing, design, technology and ways of working; our people always see a customer’s ambition and target as our own ambition and target; and, through competence, reliability and results, we build long-term partnerships.Though the first-ever flight to use SAF as part of its fuel took to the skies in 1998, the industry is only now ready to take off. With a wide variety of feedstock options, production processes, technologies and maturity curves in play, producers need to be certain they are working with a knowledgeable, flexible and can-do partner.&nbsp;And one that is in it for the long haul.Author: Milica Folić&nbsp; Director of New Business Development, Topsoe&nbsp; &nbsp;

Spotlight | A SAF Pair of Hands: Partnerships Crucial  in Fast-Growing Industry

Located in Madison, Wisconsin, the Virent team continues to advance its core technology—the BioForming® process—which converts plant sugars into renewable gasoline, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), renewable diesel and the chemical building blocks for 100% renewable and recyclable plastics, fibers and films.The BioForming® process is similar to traditional petroleum refining, except that it has been specifically designed to refine renewable feedstocks instead of crude oil, using proprietary catalysts as well as pressures and temperatures common in refineries. &nbsp;Because the BioForming® process uses plant-based feedstocks derived from carbon currently in the atmosphere as opposed to carbon from below the ground, it can help reduce the amount of new carbon being introduced into the environment. “These low-carbon products can be processed in existing refining and petrochemical infrastructure, making them 100% drop-in replacements for petroleum-based products,” says Dave Kettner, president and general counsel of Virent. “Our main fuel products are renewable gasoline and synthesized aromatic kerosene (SAK) jet fuel. Virent’s BioForm® SAK enables 100% SAF without having to blend with traditional jet fuel. To date, our BioForm® SAK has been used in demonstration flights by United Airlines, Gulfstream, Emirates and Bell Helicopter.”Virent and Johnson Matthey, a global leader in process technologies, have combined their skills and expertise to develop and bring to market a world-leading, scalable biobased catalytic technology to reduce the carbon footprint of everyday fuels and chemicals.Virent’s BioForming® Sugars to Aromatics (S2A) technology is ready for commercialization, and together with Johnson Matthey, the company is working to optimize the process and catalysts that can create 100% sustainable fuels and chemicals, cutting greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80%. &nbsp;“It is our mission to help meet the world's growing demand for sustainable products,” Kettner adds. “The demonstration flights we’ve helped fuel are great examples of how we’re meeting today’s energy needs while investing in a sustainable, energy-diverse future.”Author: Virent&nbsp; &nbsp;

Spotlight | Enabling 100% Drop-in SAF With  Lower Particulate Matter Emissions

With demand for SAF feedstocks likely to see considerable competition, a crucial aspect for consideration is feedstock sourcing well into the future. &nbsp;What an operation is able to source now may be vastly different in the years to come, and building in that flexibility in the beginning or early on could be paramount to the plant’s profitability. “Some just assume they will be able to get what they want—but it’s limited,” says Manfred Baumgartner, CEO at BDI BioEnergy International. “All projects that are designed on a basis of relatively good feedstock qualities, I think in the future they will have more problems, as good-quality feedstocks will become more expensive.”&nbsp;That’s because good-quality feedstocks require less treatment, smaller investments and lower operating costs. While ideal for processing, demand-driven price increases could force some producers to look at lower-quality feedstocks. “And then, the plant may not be built for this,” Baumgartner says. &nbsp;Having the ability to adapt to utilize lower-quality feedstocks will be a key parameter in the success of many operations, from BDI’s perspective. The company’s advanced PreTreatment Process is designed to purify vegetable oils and waste oils and fats for renewable diesel and SAF production. allowing operators to test and utilize a very wide range of varying-quality feedstocks. “We ask our customers, what about the future? What will you get, and how will you keep availability high? Again, this is a topic of initial investment vs operability.”&nbsp;Waste feedstocks include different types of impurities compared to fresh vegetable oils; therefore, a flexible pretreatment process configuration is essential to the capacity to handle all impurities, Baumgartner says. This applies in particular if different types of feedstock are processed in the same production line.With the distinct knowhow that BDI has gained regarding oils and fats in general since the early 1990s—waste fatty feedstocks in particular—the company knows all the critical factors and is able to provide the appropriate, tailor-made solution. “We have competence and experience to design and build flexible and reliable pretreatment and biofuel plants, and as a full service provider, we accompany our customers throughout the process, starting from feedstock evaluation in the laboratory, to start-up of the pretreatment plant, to support afterward,” Baumgartner adds. “The design and operation of the pretreatment process is a key topic regarding the reliable, efficient and economic biofuel production.”&nbsp; &nbsp;Author: SAF Magazine

Spotlight | SAF Feedstock Flexibility via Pretreatment 

In the urgent quest to address climate change, the U.S. aviation industry is pivoting towards sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). This transition goes beyond merely technological or logistical aspects—it is intrinsically a financial challenge. Generations of reliance on fossil fuels have deeply embedded specific economic dynamics into the industry. Therefore, mastering the transition to SAF requires a profound understanding of these dynamics.&nbsp;Notably, equity and debt financing play pivotal roles in shaping the financial landscape of SAF projects. Complemented by federal incentives, they provide a robust support framework for the growth and success of SAF projects. This article delves into these crucial themes, offering readers a panoramic view of SAF project financing.Equity Financing in SAF Projects&nbsp; In the initial stages of SAF projects, equity financing takes the spotlight. This funding channel is comprised of investments from project developers, venture capitalists, and infrastructure firms willing to venture into the potentially high-risk, high-reward terrain of the nascent SAF sector. Take the example of Fulcrum BioEnergy's Sierra BioFuels project. This project represents a fascinating case of a multifaceted approach to equity financing, integrating private equity, strategic partnerships, federal loan guarantees and grants. On the equity side, Fulcrum tied strategic offtake and other agreements to significant equity investments from BP, SK Innovation and others. But before then, Fulcrum was raising smaller amounts of money by selling its equity as far back as 2008. This blend of funding sources allows the project to unlock substantial SAF production capacity, thereby showcasing the power of diverse equity financing in overcoming risks and jumpstarting SAF projects.SAF producer Gevo also epitomizes the resilience and strategic acumen required to secure equity financing. Gevo started over 15 years ago with small equity investments and attracted venture funding from Khosla Ventures and others by selling preferred stock and convertible promissory notes. Gevo also acquired a small ethanol plant in western Minnesota and did an initial public offering. Since then, and despite financial hurdles, Gevo has steadily progressed, securing equity investments for its Net-Zero 1 and Net-Zero 2 SAF projects. These instances underscore the indispensable role of equity financing in the SAF sector.While it has fallen on hard times, Red Rock Biofuels was earlier able to obtain significant equity investments from British Airways parent company International Airlines Group. Red Rocks is a good example of how strategic investors fund even risky SAF projects in their quest to find a supply of SAF.&nbsp;No matter how these projects are doing now, they all started as ideas. They had stakeholders who convinced small investors to support their dream, hit their milestones, and attracted venture and institutional equity investors.Debt Financing in SAF Projects&nbsp; As SAF projects mature and validate their feasibility, those behind the projects start looking at the financing needed to build a production facility. Most of the time, that means they need debt, because equity financing is often too expensive to use for project financing. While traditional debt instruments like bank loans and bonds may be viable options, the uncertainty of a new technology-based project usually means the consideration of more exotic debt options as well.One mechanism for risk mitigation in SAF projects is through off-take agreements. These agreements assure lenders of a predictable revenue stream, making the project more appealing for debt financing. Gevo's ongoing negotiations for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts for the Net-Zero 1 SAF project offer a salient example. For its South Dakota project, Gevo is seeking over $100 million in solid waste bonds (often called green bonds). The company is also considering various financing options, including equity investments and potential debt financing from the U.S. DOE This demonstrates how debt financing can provide vital support for expanding SAF projects.Fulcrum has a number of long-term offtake agreements that also support debt financing for its projects, including approximately $20 million in grant funds from the U.K. Department of Transportation for its U.K. project, and $375 million in the sale of Environmental Improvement Revenue Bonds with the Indiana Finance Authority.Achieving a Balance: Equity and Debt in SAF Projects&nbsp; While equity and debt financing each have their roles in SAF project financing, it's careful balancing of the two that often determines project success. This equilibrium significantly influences a project's risk profile, making it more or less attractive to potential investors and lenders. Generally, the riskier the project, whether because of unproven technology, feedstock or offtake risk, the more equity or exotic (and more expensive) debt options are required.LanzaTech's story brings another layer of complexity to the conversation. This company, renowned for its innovative carbon capture technology, has attracted significant equity investments from strategic partners such as Indian Oil Corporation and All Nippon Airways. These investments not only validate LanzaTech's innovative approach, but also provide the necessary financial fuel to drive their groundbreaking technology forward.Federal Incentives for SAF Project Financing&nbsp; No discussion of SAF financing is complete without acknowledging the role of federal incentives. Initiatives like the USDA &nbsp;Biorefinery, Renewable Chemical and Biobased Product Manufacturing Assistance Program, and the DOE’s Loan Programs Office, have been pivotal in encouraging SAF project financing by providing grants and loan guarantees. The SAF Grand Challenge, a federal initiative, is instrumental in stimulating research and development in the sector and offers potential funding opportunities for innovative SAF technologies. With the Biden administration's commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, SAF projects have become even more attractive to financiers and investors, setting the stage for a new era of advanced and financially sustainable SAF projects.The Inflation Reduction Act’s new Section 40B SAF fuel credit also contains helpful credit payments that SAF projects can utilize or even sell to support their equity and debt financing. Several states, including Minnesota, Illinois and Washington, are enacting or considering similar state level incentives as a way to encourage the development of SAF projects in their states.Staying Informed: Trends, Financing Structures, and Opportunities&nbsp; The SAF landscape is a dynamic one, constantly shifting with emerging trends, evolving financing structures, and new opportunities. For industry stakeholders, staying abreast of these changes is imperative. One notable emerging trend is the proliferation of strategic partnerships, federal and state incentives, and international collaborations, which can catalyze innovation and financial support for SAF projects.Moreover, public-private partnerships offer an exciting avenue for advancing SAF development. By combining government support with the nimbleness of private sector entities, these partnerships can accelerate the financing and growth of SAF projects. The growing interest in impact investing, where investments aim to generate positive environmental impact alongside financial returns, also signals a promising new frontier for SAF project funding.The pivot to SAF is not just a matter of overcoming technical and logistical roadblocks—it requires navigating an intricate financial labyrinth. By delving into the financial stories behind successful SAF projects, industry stakeholders can glean invaluable insights into this complex domain. These stories serve as a roadmap, shedding light on the crucial elements that can make or break a SAF project. They highlight the importance of robust equity financing during the early stages, the role of debt financing in scaling operations, and the positive impact of federal incentives and public-private partnerships in creating an encouraging environment for SAF projects. Failed projects like Red Rocks also serve as caution signs to developers, investors and partners.The widespread adoption of SAF is not just a dream—it's a tangible reality within reach. As we rise to the challenge, we are ushering in a new era for the aviation industry—an era characterized by sustainability, innovation and growth. The journey may be complex, but with every successful SAF project, we are one step closer to a greener, cleaner future for aviation.Author: Todd Taylor&nbsp; Attorney, Avisen Legal&nbsp; ttaylor@avisenlegal.com&nbsp; www.avisenlegal.com&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;

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The pivot to SAF is not just a matter of overcoming technical and logistical roadblocks—it requires navigating an intricate financial labyrinth. 

Navigating the Financial Skyways:  Financing SAF Projects in the US

The market opportunities around sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) have attracted the attention of the ethanol industry. In June, at the National Biodiesel &amp; Renewable Diesel Summit—colocated with ethanol industry’s largest conference, the Fuel Ethanol Workshop, held in Omaha, Nebraska,—experts from the SAF industry, biofuels industry and government discussed ethanol’s potential as a feedstock for SAF via the alcohol-to-jet pathway. On panel, “Reviewing the Dynamics and Trajectories of Renewable Diesel and Sustainable Aviation Fuel Markets,” presenters discussed SAF market factors and prices, the importance of SAF in helping the aviation industry meet decarbonization goals, and public policy related to SAF technology development. Panelists included Nicolle Castro, managing editor of Americas Biofuels with S&amp;P Global Platts; Steve Csonka, executive director of the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative; and Ben Simon, biotechnology officer with the U.S. Department of Environment and Energy.Understanding the Market&nbsp; During her presentation, Castro discussed SAF price dynamics and the market factors connected to SAF costs in the U.S. S&amp;P Global Commodity Insights has been developing price assessments to help producers better understand these markets and the impact of policies such as tax credits on their profitability. The three major determining factors of SAF prices include feedstock prices, environmental credits and tax incentives, Castro explained. S&amp;P Global Commodity Insights also tracks the cost of low-carbon hydrogen, known as blue hydrogen, because of its impact on SAF production prices. As the primary objectives of the SAF Grand Challenge are to expand SAF supply and end use, reduce cost and enhance sustainability, it is important for producers to know where the industry stands regarding these goals. “It’s extremely relevant from a producer’s perspective to understand what is going to be involved in the production cost model, what the main price trends are, and what to expect in terms of public policies and how that impacts the price model," Castro said. "And also from a consumer’s perspective, to identify what is going to be the financial impact of expanding the SAF credit for jet fuel." &nbsp;Tax credits and public policy are vital to help airlines meet decarbonization goals and support the expansion of the SAF industry without greatly impacting the social economy, she explained. The price spread between SAF with environmental credits and SAF without credits is nearly $1,500 per metric ton.&nbsp;“Exactly when is the U.S. planning to get to 3.5 billion gallons of SAF to the market?" Castro said. "Is it possible? Yes, it is, however we still need to go through some challenging moments in the next seven years to achieve not just that production, but also to make it possible for airlines in terms of cost-effective alternative to jet fuel." &nbsp;The Fundamentals of the SAF Industry&nbsp; Csonka outlined the background of the SAF industry, the aviation industry’s decarbonization goals, SAF policy and progress being made toward these goals. Established in 2006, CAAFI operates as a public-private partnership between the aviation industry and the U.S. government, working to foster the development and commercialization of SAF. CAAFI and its community are pursuing a foundation of future success for the aviation industry, Csonka explained, no matter the type of feedstock or conversion process.Most airlines have made commitments to reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050, with some airlines pursuing a more aggressive deadline of net zero by 2040. Csonka explained that the U.N. body, the International Civil Aviation Organization, implemented a program called the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme (CORSIA), which sets the benchmark of actual emissions in 2019, meaning that the aviation industry cannot surpass this benchmark without offsetting the emissions in some way. “The industry recognized, as well as the federal government did, that we needed to address aviation emissions, and part of the reason for that is the reliance or the impact of the aviation industry on the U.S. economy—second in gross domestic product and balance of trade, only behind agriculture,” he said.&nbsp;Csonka referred to SAF as the only viable approach to GHG reduction in the aviation industry; however, significant feedstock must be unlocked to make those reductions a reality. In order meet the projected demand of 27 billion gallons of jet fuel across all aviation sectors in the U.S., the SAF industry needs to double its capacity in the U.S. each year, Csonka explained. “The really good news is that some of these entities themselves have committed to aspire to producing a billion gallons themselves as they build the first plant, and then are able to replicate,” he said.The SAF industry is on track to reach the goal of 3 billion gallons for 2030, but it will be much more difficult to reach the 2050 SAF goal of 35 billion gallons. Of the current U.S. capacity of 1.8 billion gallons, 70% comes from fats, greases and oils, a feedstock that is nearly maxed out. “The rest is coming from alcohol conversions, municipal solid waste, probably some pyrolysis stuff comes into play, but we need to unlock significant regions of feedstock viability, as well as technology, in order to achieve that 2050 goal,” Csonka said.&nbsp;The execution concept for the SAF Grand Challenge is interwoven with the use of ethanol as the alcohol-to-jet feedstock at the first-generation, 1.5- generation and second-generation level. Currently, ethanol is the most widely available feedstock, as hydrogen is not practical for long-range or medium-haul flights, and technology needed for battery-powered flight is not yet viable for large aircraft. The ethanol industry’s goal of reaching net zero is encouraging because it is a great opportunity for the SAF industry, he explained. “It opens the door for using ethanol as a feedstock with this kind of sustainability associated with it,” Csonka said. “And allows us to achieve carbon indexes for vital fuel production that qualifies for policy support that’s available here in the U.S. ..."Csonka also described some of the government policies at both the state and federal level that are supporting the industry. The Illinois state legislature passed a tax rebate for airlines using SAF in the state. “That’s a sizable credit in terms of dollars per gallon," he said. "It's limited in its total scope, but it creates a nice opportunity for folks thinking about delivering fuel into Chicago." Washington state has implemented a similar tax rebate, aimed at SAF production instead of use. The aviation industry is ready to deal with the higher prices of SAF compared to standard aviation fuel over time, he said, but will welcome tax credits where it can get them.Research and Government Funding&nbsp; Simon explained that corn ethanol is a “no-brainer” as a near-term feedstock for SAF, though further carbon reduction is needed. In an effort to support decarbonization, DOE has awarded grants to first-generation ethanol facilities for the purpose of exploring solutions such as regenerative agriculture and carbon capture and sequestration or utilization. These facilities that received grants for feasibility studies include Lincolnway Energy, Green Plains for the study of gasification of corn stover, as well as Renew CO2 partnering with Ace Ethanol to explore catalytic electrolysis of CO2. The hydroprocessed esters and fatty acid (HEFA) process, which uses fats, oils and greases as feedstock for SAF, is the other near-term resource. “We have some projects looking at yellow grease, which is typically is too dirty to clean up to go into those HEFA processes,” he said.&nbsp;There are long-term feedstocks that need more R&amp;D prior to scale up or demonstration. DOE is interested in funding R&amp;D for projects using municipal solid waste (MSW), woody biomass and purpose-grown feedstocks, such as algae and switchgrass. MSW and woody biomass will be of interest in the 2026 to 2030 timeframe, while feedstocks such as ag waste are expected to be an option in the 2030 to 2040 timeframe. Energy crops and algae are further down the road, becoming of interest between 2040 and 2050. CO2 is another feedstock that BETO is interested in researching for utilization. “What I appreciate with utilizing CO2 is not every ethanol facility is going to have access to these CO2 pipelines,” he said. “It's a great technology—there’s tax credits out there for it, there are people doing it—but if you’re not lucky enough to be in that area, what are you going to do? We want to fund those demonstration projects on CO2 utilization.”&nbsp;The DOE has a total of $118 million available in funding available to accelerate domestic biofuel production. Simon also outlined funding options for projects at different scales, explaining cost-share and throughput requirements. The three types of development scales DOE is funding include prepilot, pilot and demonstration, and first-generation corn ethanol emissions reduction. Each scale has its own unique requirements. As of January 2023, Marquis Energy and partner LanzaTech were awarded funds for a prepilot project exploring gas fermentation to turn CO2 into ethanol. Green Plains, Lincolnway Energy and Renew CO2 each received funding for feasibility studies to explore a variety of GHG reduction technologies. &nbsp;“The goal is by 2035, 85% end reduction versus fossil based sources,” Simon said. The DOE’s 7th Energy Earthshot sets the goal of 50% replacement of fossil-fuel based sources across the rail, marine, off-road and hydrocarbon chemical sectors, alongside 100% replacement in the aviation sector.&nbsp;SAF producers are in demand, as evidenced by the fact that the first 12 to 13 SAF facilities have all signed offtake agreements with airlines for their full production capacity prior to any concrete being poured in the ground, as Csonka pointed out. The SAF industry has a long runway to grow, expand and innovate. Author: Katie Schroeder&nbsp; Staff Writer, SAF Magazine&nbsp; kschroeder@bbiinternational.com&nbsp;

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At the National Biodiesel and Renewable Diesel Summit, industry experts discussed the complexities of the current sustainable aviation fuel industry, as well as opportunities and challenges for the industry in the years ahead. 

Fundamentals and the Future

In May, U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm cut the ribbon at Idaho National Laboratory’s Biomass Feedstock National User Facility, celebrating $15 million in upgrades largely designed to assist industry partners in the scale-up of the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) sector. BFNUF Director Lynn Wendt tells SAF Magazine that the U.S.-DOE funded lab’s first physical process development unit was actually installed in 2010, a time at which a modest selection of tools were available. “Now, we’re really the go-to lab for feedstocks logistics and mechanical processing, and really one of the only facilities in the world that has all these capabilities all under one roof,” she says.Then and Now&nbsp; Prior to the lab overhaul, it could receive biomass—which has historically been corn stover and woody biomass—and grind it down for blending into other materials and pelletization. “At the time, it was evident there were some challenges with the biorefineries being built,” Wendt says. “A couple of these things included lack of flowability and feedstock quality issues where the where the feedstock itself had characteristics that would have a negative impact in the biorefinery and would cause downtime.”&nbsp;The facility upgrade, which took roughly three years to complete, was designed to address many of these challenges. “The new concept is really to take biomass apart in a new way using new tools, so that you can remove some of these bad components, but also fractionate the biomass into different streams and provide them to the right end use," Wendt says.One example is corn stover stalks. “We can take the rind section that is really hard and has a high lignin content and separate it from the inside of the stalk—the pith—which has lots of absorbency characteristics and high nutrient levels," she explains. "By taking those apart, processing them separately and then combining them, you’re going to meet your quality targets better."For challenges specific to SAF, BFNUF has purchased many new analytical and mechanical tools, such as a biomass dryer. “Many times, you’ll need to dry wood or herbaceous residue, and drying is a huge energy consumer,” Wendt says. “It’s critical for efficient gasification or pyrolysis. We installed inline moisture and particle size sensors to do real-time analysis predictions as to how much drying time and energy you will need, instead of waiting for material to exit the dryer 10 minutes later. We can change the operation of the dryer and move it through faster, so it’s not overdried or overexposed, using excess energy. That’s just one example of doing more things in real time—we can take something from 10 minutes after the drying operation to a matter of five to 10 seconds to get an answer.”&nbsp;Wendt says the lab is doing a lot of work with municipal solid waste (MSW) and fractionation. “We’re separating the biogenic carbon, fibers and papers from the anthropogenic carbon and plastics, and doing that with high fidelity even in black bag garbage,” Wendt says. “If you’re able understand your feedstock going into SAF, then you can selectively remove parts or blend as you want, so you get your conversion quality at the end. You can do things upstream so that when you have to do a C14 (carbon-14) analysis downstream to get your SAF credit, you already have an idea of what that might be.” &nbsp;As for the lab’s capabilities, there are three main components—a full-scale, fully integrated process development unit, a biomass characterization laboratory and a biomass feedstock library.Lab Components&nbsp; The lab’s full-scale, fully integrated process development unit includes tools that range from a kilogram-per-hour scale up to a ton-per-hour scale, size reduction and separation, densification, chemical signature detection and robotic separation. “It’s housed in a 40,000-square-foot building with a mezzanine and a large outdoor footprint as well, so we can receive a wide range of material in the state it would be in for SAF, whether it’s baled or bulk MSW, or a truckload of material.”The biomass characterization laboratory consists of analytical tools, as well as chemical and physical characterization tools for understanding the biomass’s quality and to pinpoint important variables including particle size, composition and flowability. “We also do things to help understand storage stability—we have storage reactors that will help us predict things in the lab scale that would happen in the field,” Wendt says. “For example, a large stack of bales—we can actually stimulate that with high fidelity, in the lab setting.”&nbsp;The biomass feedstock library is both a physical and a virtual facility, Wendt says. Feedstock samples have been added to the laboratory since 2007, and to date, the virtual facility has approximately 110,000 samples in it and over 100 types of biomass and waste resources. &nbsp;“Right now, it houses quality data for feedstocks, and it assesses chemical characteristics looking at things like energy consumption for size reduction or drying—all of those data points are in there,” she says. &nbsp;The physical library hosts about 60,000 samples and offers the capability of probing historical data, oftentimes containing the crop’s production data—i.e., where it came from, harvest information and how it was stored.&nbsp;From Wendt’s perspective, the mechanical processing capability of the BFNUF is really what differentiates it from other labs. “In the upgraded facility that we just opened, we now have all of these mechanical tools," she says. "You wouldn’t use them all for one conversion pathway to SAF—you might just use a selection of them based on your feedstock and its quality—but we can put that together for any entity.” &nbsp;There is a great deal of interest from industry in using the facility, Wendt says, and the lab has been busy talking with partners and helping them understand things that are often overlooked when it comes to feedstock logistics. “We assume these things are standardized and they’re not, so what we’ve really seen is an increased interest in solving challenges like flowability and getting the feedstock quality right to eliminate downtime.”&nbsp;As for gaining access to the lab, BFNUF works on competitive awards through different entities as a collaborator with different industry partners, or directly with the industry to help derisk SAF production. “The first step is to call or email me, and we’ll go over capabilities and what the industry partner needs," Wendt says. "We can host visitors to see the facility and meet with the researchers who can help with defining and executing work to scale for a specific process.”&nbsp;Currently, BFNUF has about 60 unique projects at various levels across the DOE and private sector right now, many of which have numerous industry partners, Wendt says. “We have a really strong interest in collaborating with entities as they’re working on their SAF scale-up ... we are really interested in applying our techniques to pilot scale, demonstration and even commercial scale, and we want to be involved with as many partners as we can.”On a final note, Wendt says that something the lab is really moving toward is the digital space. "It is likely much cheaper to have things fail in the digital space than the physical space," she says. "We have a really strong program in computational modeling combined with laboratory and pilot-scale testing, where we’re trying to predict in real time what’s happening in a grinder or a screw conveyor, and we have high fidelity models to predict some of those things." What BFNUF &nbsp;envisions as a huge asset to derisk the biorefinery industry is development of models in the 3D or digital space before any building is done. "We can do lab and pilot scale, and demonstration scale to validate models and that will help inform the size of things, the chemical makeup of things," she adds. "We're really moving to this digital space, and not just a physical footprint in the future,"Author: Anna Simet&nbsp; Editor, SAF Magazine&nbsp; asimet@bbiinternational.com&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;

2023-11-14 - A Major Upgrade (SAF Magazine)

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The newly renovated Biomass Feedstock National User Facility aims to serve as a vital industry partner as the most complete feedstock preprocessing R&D facility in the world. In May, U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm cut the ribbon at Idaho National Laboratory’s Biomass Feedstock National User Facility, celebrating $15 million in upgrades largely designed to assist industry partners in the scale-up of the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) sector. BFNUF Director Lynn Wendt tells SAF Magazine that the U.S.-DOE funded lab’s first physical process development unit was actually installed in 2010, a time at which a modest selection of tools were available. “Now, we’re really the go-to lab for feedstocks logistics and mechanical processing, and really one of the only facilities in the world that has all these capabilities all under one roof,” she says...

A Major Upgrade

U.S. SAF goals are lofty. New tax credits provide real incentives. Multiple technologies are ready to roll. Opportunities lie ahead. &nbsp;But the challenges are complex, Henrik Rasmussen, Topsoe’s managing director for the Americas, tells SAF Magazine. “We have the pieces. We have the technology and catalyst black box. We can make SAF using many different pathways,” he says, listing technologies and feedstocks such as e-fuels utilizing electrolyzers combined with CO2 from direct air capture or a biogenic CO2 source, methanol-to-jet, ethanol-to-jet, biomass-to-jet, fats, oils and greases-to-jet. “We as a technology provider can show it’s technically feasible, but we’re not the ones financing the plants.”There’s a reason why HEFA (hydrotreated esters and fatty acids) technology is leading the commercialization race. These units making renewable fuels from fats, oils and greases have become profitable due to government policies acting as subsidies. The definition of biodiesel was expanded to include renewable diesel and renamed biomass-based diesel. Thus, renewable diesel is now eligible for the blenders tax credit alongside RIN generation (renewable identification number used to demonstrate compliance with the Renewable Fuel Standard). On top of that, the value of carbon credits in states and provinces on the West Coast with low carbon fuel standards add greater returns. Refiners can convert their older, less efficient facilities to renewable diesel production with relatively low capital expenditure.&nbsp;The cost of a retrofit of an existing facility is much less than a greenfield HEFA project, Rasmussen says, due to infrastructure being in place and the ability to incorporate much of the existing equipment into the new process. “We have licensed more than 50 of these plants now worldwide, and 90% are in the U.S. and Canada,” he says. “Initially, they were focused on making diesel because there were almost no subsidies for jet. Now that the Inflation Reduction Act is in place, the production of renewable jet is as profitable or more profitable than renewable diesel, so our customers are pivoting toward making jet. We’re already going back and modifying the plants we licensed a couple of years ago to make more jet.” &nbsp;Topsoe’s HydroFlex process offers advantages that has made it a leading HEFA technology. The company has developed a new suite of proprietary catalysts for fats, oil and greases that permits optimizing either jet or renewable diesel production. The Topsoe process utilizes catalysts for the hydrogenation process to remove oxygen from the triglycerides as water, unlike the more common decarboxylation process that removes oxygen as CO2. Not only does that keep the carbon in the fuel fraction, thus increasing yield, but it eliminates the need for an amine tower to scrub the CO2, lowering energy consumption and CAPEX.“The next big thing which will be very helpful in generating more SAF is hydro liquefaction,” Rasmussen continues. Steeper Energy and Topsoe are working on hydrothermal liquefaction technology that applies supercritical water as a reaction medium to convert biomass directly into a high-energy density biocrude oil. “With this technology, we can take woody biomass to a liquid, instead of gasifying the biomass into individual molecules as a gas," Rasmussen says. "Then, we send that liquid to our HydroFlex technology to make jet or diesel.“The reason why HEFA is more cost effective than biomass gasification is that you already have a liquid and a molecule that looks like a diesel or jet molecule. When you gasify the biomass, you then have to take the individual molecules—hydrogen and CO2—and put them together to create longer-chain molecules and form a liquid. That requires more unit operation and more catalyst steps. It’s technically a proven process, but more expensive,” Rasmussen explains.&nbsp;Biomass-based SAF units are all likely to have somewhat smaller capacities, he adds, to correspond with biomass availability within a 50- to 100-mile radius from the plant. It does not make sense to truck the biomass long distances from an energy balance. A rough rule of thumb, he says, is it takes 1 ton of dry woody biomass to make a barrel (42 gallons) of SAF. &nbsp;The process of building molecules from CO2 and H2 into targeted hydrocarbon fuels is not new technology. Fischer Tropsch (FT) technology has been around nearly a century. “We can license this technology due to our collaboration with Sasol,” Rasmussen says. “Sasol technology is proven in a number of very large-scale plants around the world.”&nbsp;This summer, Topsoe established a 50/50 joint venture with Sasol, (subject to approval by relevant authorities), solidifying their commitment to produce sustainable aviation fuels. The purpose of the Sasol Topsoe JV is to develop, build, own and operate SAF plants, and market sustainable aviation fuels derived primarily from nonfossil feedstock, utilizing green hydrogen, sustainable sources of CO2 and biomass.&nbsp;Other pathways to SAF that Topsoe is working on include methanol to jet, ethanol to jet and eFuels. “These are great pathways as well,” Rasmussen says. “To make eFuels, we use Topsoe SOEC (solid oxide electrolytic cell) electrolyzer technology to dissociate water to hydrogen and oxygen to get the green hydrogen, and combine with a CO2 source to make fuels. The CO2 source may be from an ethanol plant (biogenic CO2) or from direct air capture, etc. The H2 and CO2 are converted to syngas, which is further processed in a Fischer Tropsch technology to make waxes, which are hydrocracked into jet fuel. It is a great technology, and it certainly works well, but at a higher CAPEX than HEFA. Fortunately, the carbon intensity score for the renewable jet is better, so the subsidies for this pathway are higher making these projects profitable.“All of these pathways are needed to get more volume of jet into the marketplace, but these new pathways require higher CAPEX investment,” he continues. “And the plants won’t get built unless you have financing and off take agreements in place.”Investment hurdles&nbsp; As for SAF investment, Rasmussen cites several challenges. “What has to happen for projects to really explode in the jet world is that the airlines need to be willing to make a long-term off-take commitment at a realistic price,” he says. “The cost of renewable jet will be higher than fossil jet unless crude oil increases significantly, so the airlines will have to pass on that extra cost to the consumer and tell the consumer, ‘We want to be sustainable, so you can fly without a CO2 footprint, but it’s going to cost you more.’ That is the part of the story that’s not being told, right now.”&nbsp;The lack of long-term off-take agreements is a problem, he says. “The airlines are saying they want jet, but they are only signing off-take agreements for a few years. You can’t build a plant based on a short off-take agreement,” he says. “Refiners with solid balance sheets aren’t affected as much, however, as project developers need nonrecourse financing of their projects.“Even if a long-term agreement is in hand,” he says, “bankers are likely to be leery because airlines are not considered investment grade. Airlines lack the four or five balance-sheet ratios that investors look for, such as price-to-earnings or earnings-to-deployed capital ratios.”Another concern for bankers and investors is that the federal goals and tax credits in place now that are making a project profitable may expire before the plant is paid back. “Ultimately, airlines and consumers will need to accept that going green is going to cost more,” Rasmussen says. “Topsoe’s online report, Voices from the Sky, poses the tough question: With fuel comprising 20-30% of an airline ticket, will passengers accept a doubling of cost for green fuel over fossil jet fuel?”Decarbonization Vision&nbsp; Rasmussen steps back from the SAF arena to outline Topsoe’s vision for decarbonization, starting with a blue transition and moving toward more green energy. “Fossil is not going away,” he says. "It will be a stable part of the world energy supply for many decades to come, while all these other energy sources will be part of the overall energy mix going forward. In the U.S., we have already started the blue transition and we will start to see more and more green projects over the next 10 years and beyond. The reason for this is that blue hydrogen and blue ammonia can be realized at massive scale right now. Blue ammonia can be shipped as an energy carrier and blue hydrogen will be produced and consumed right where it’s needed to decarbonize many industries.” While SAF is the only real alternative for the airline industry today, he adds, hydrogen is a basic ingredient in SAF technologies.&nbsp;Topsoe has long dominated the ammonia scene, with its catalyst technology producing half the globe’s nitrogen fertilizer. Topsoe expects huge growth in blue ammonia. “You can’t easily ship hydrogen, but you can ship ammonia,” Rasmussen points out. “Ammonia is already being shipped all over the world for fertilizer use, but now blue ammonia can be an energy carrier to decarbonize businesses where they can’t make blue. Why can’t they make blue? In a lot of places in the world, they can’t sequester the CO2 easily. The U.S. is blessed with the geology where we can sequester CO2 in most states safely, and we have lots of natural gas, which are the two main requirements for making blue hydrogen and blue ammonia.”Refinery-scale blue hydrogen is on the drawing board as well. “A blue hydrogen hub on the Gulf coast is building two mega-scale Topsoe blue hydrogen plants,” Rasmussen says. Those two plants alone will reduce CO2 emissions by 10 million tons per year. “It shows the scale where blue can make a huge impact right here, right now,” Rasmussen says. “A blue transition is important because it can decarbonize right now, at scale and it is commercially proven.”&nbsp;We cannot get from A to B with green today, Rasmussen adds. “The pieces of the puzzle are not there. But you can get from A to B with blue in the near term, while we continue to build the green infrastructure.” Author: Susanne Retka Schill&nbsp; Freelance contibutor, SAF Magazine

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As one of the industry’s leading SAF process technology providers, Topsoe believes all possible pathways are needed—but for most, investment costs remain high. 

On Top of SAF

Methanol as an alternative fuel continues to make headlines, and leading companies are evaluating the possibilities—not just in aviation, but marine and other sectors as well. A July 25 webinar hosted by the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative covered the fundamentals of the renewable methanol market today, and how things look moving forward. Speaking on that topic was Gregory Dolan, CEO of the Methanol Institute, which was established in 1989 as the American Methanol Institute and is recognized as the trade association for the global methanol industry with offices around the world.&nbsp;At present, a task force team within ASTM D02.J has initiated the process of acquiring industry qualification for a methanol-to-jet (MTJ) SAF production process, adding to eight SAF pathways that have been qualified, according to CAAFI. Dolan says most methanol today is produced by steam-reforming natural gas via mature technologies, and that most plants produce around 5,000 metric tons per day. “The next large plant will be in Louisiana ... it’s just finishing construction and will be a 1.8 million-metric-ton-per-year facility, about a $1.2 to $1.3 billion investment. They have about 1,500 employees onsite finishing up the buildout of that plant.”&nbsp;China produces much of its methanol through coal coal or petcoke gasification, Dolan says, but there is growing interest in renewable methanol. “For all three, you’re producing synthesis gas to build a methanol molecule—CH3OH, the simplest alcohol.”&nbsp;Methanol is a building block for chemicals, Dolan explains, used in hundreds of everyday products. It is also a direct fuel used in cars, busses and trucks, as well as a biodiesel derivative, which is about 10% methanol by volume. “What we're seeing is a lot of growth in methanol-to-olefins, which is strictly a China market today,” Dolan says. “Global demand is around 80 million metric tons [per year] ...”&nbsp;Dolan referenced a joint report the Methanol Institute released with the International Renewable Energy Association in 2021, which he says offered a first impressive look at renewable methanol production, which is referred to as green methanol, opposed to brown (coal-based), gray (conventional natural gas) or blue, which is made using blue hydrogen and capturing the CO2. Renewable or green methanol can be produced in two ways: biomethanol, which is produced from biomass—gasification of forestry residue or ag waste, as well as biogas from landfills, sewage or municipal solid waste—or from CO2 and hydrogen produced from renewable electricity. “Whether you’re producing any color, it’s all globally traded to the same specification—the IMPCA specification reference, which has a minimum purity of 99.85%," Dolan says.Tracking the Buildout&nbsp; The Methanol institute is tracking renewable methanol projects (biomethanol and e-methanol)—a map of which is available on its website. “Right now, we’re tracking about 90,” Dolan says. If all reached production state, that would equate to more than eight million metric tons (2.7 billion gallons) per year by 2027, he says, cautioning that these are only publicly announced projects and does not necessarily mean they have offtake agreements, financing or permitting. “But I would say it’s indicative that we’ll see a wave of renewable methanol project over the next couple of years.”&nbsp;Dolan says projects are getting larger in size—to date, e-methanol and biomethanol plants have been in the range from 4,000 to 10,000 tons per year. “We’re now seeing plants with capacities of 50,000 to 250,000,” he says, adding that project development is expanding from traditional fuel producers to major utilities such as Orsted, Iberdrola and Engie, as well interest from oil and gas majors like BP, ExxonMobile, Chevron and others.&nbsp;The aforementioned IRENA report—which forecasts global methanol demand to increase fivefold between now and 2050, up to approximately 500 million metric tons annually—also contains comprehensive pricing, Dolan says. “Methanol typically trades in a band from $300 to $400 per metric ton—today, we’re seeing biomethanol cost-competitive with conventional methanol from natural gas. Generally, biomethanol has traded for $600, $700 to $800 per metric ton.”Dolan adds that right now conventional, natural gas-based methanol has seen a slight price slide, recently trading for $229 per metric ton, or 69 cents per gallon.A potential industry game-changer is the U.S. Inflation Reduction tax credits—45Q (CO2 capture and storage), 45B (renewable electricity) and 45V tax (hydrogen production), which will provoke “significant investments for low-carbon methanol production and use," Dolan says. “The IRA will move a lot of announced projects in Europe and China to the U.S.”&nbsp;Methanol for SAF is likely to echo the boom that the marine fuel sector has recently experienced. “I think methanol as a marine fuel is instructive as to what we’re going to see from methanol to jet,” Dolan says. “2022 is the year methanol went global in the marine industry.” He gives Maersk as an example, which announced the world’s first carbon neutral container vessel to launch this year, operating on dual-fuel methanol. “Another thing Maersk has done is entered into agreements with more than 10 suppliers of biomethanol, sourcing at least 730,000 tons by the end of 2025,” he says.&nbsp;Methanol in the marine industry isn’t limited to container ships, however. “We’re also seeing it in chemical tankers, dry bulkers, super yachts, cruise ships, tugboats ... a whole range of vessels and a whole range of engines," Dolan says.Dan Kadlecek, principal aviation fuel scientist at ExxonMobil, also presented during the webinar.To view the webinar in full, visit www.caafi.org.

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Methanol-to-Jet: Taking Off

In July, SAF Magazine caught up with Steve Csonka, executive director of the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuel Initiative. Csonka has more than 35 years of experience in broad airline, OEM and fuels experience in the commercial aviation industry, and heads up CAAFI’s tireless efforts to promote the development and deployment of the SAF industry.SAF Magazine: Tell our listeners a little about CAAFI, its goals and members.Csonka: CAAFI is a public-private partnership between the aviation industry and the federal government. We were formed in 2006 to focus on the development of sustainable fuels for the industry, because we recognized far back that in order to improve aviation sustainability with respect to greenhouse gasses, that we needed to focus on the energy side of things, or jet fuel. We have a very simple remit from our sponsors, which is to foster the development and commercialization of SAF, and we do that in a lot of ways, primarily through the private-public partnership with the government, but we also use different kinds of government funding mechanisms to enter into other public-private partnership activities to see work done on everything from R&amp;D activities through demonstration and deployment. Through my work with our sponsor airlines, I assist them with evaluating opportunities and have even been involved to the point of helping a producer and airline come to an agreement on a few offtake agreements. We have a very broad remit and go deep in some areas and not so deep in others, but we cover the full spectrum of fundamental science through end use of jet fuel in an existing airplanes. We have around 1,800 members worldwide and don’t charge for membership, we just ask of our members that they’re focused on the same things we are—the development and commercialization of SAF. Our current focus really happens to be on this intersection between the government and its commitments to the SAF Grand Challenge ... and the fact that the government knows they’re not going to be producing fuel, so there’s an entity needed to help close this gap on what [the government] does from an R&amp;D, demonstration and deployment perspective, and what happens on the industry side with respect to feedstock, feedstock development and commercialization, and conversion into fuel. So that’s what’s keeping us busy at the moment—helping frame the structure of how industry and government work together on the [SAF] Grand Challenge.SAF Magazine: What does the U.S. SAF industry look like right now? What are the main drivers of investment and demand?Csonka: There is actually only one full-time SAF producer in the U.S. right now, and that often catches people off-guard because we’ve been working on this a long time. You hear a lot in the public press—a couple of times in the past few weeks it has made the front page for the editorial in the New York Times—so people see that there are things going on. Part of the blame for this mismatch between what we talk about and what’s actually happening, that can be attributed back to folks like CAAFI, but what we’re trying to do is set the stage for this very significant growth in the actual fuel production we expect to occur over the next five or six years leading into the first goal of the Grand Challenge. What I would say about the industry right now is that it is poised for significant improvements or increases in actual SAF production. Through things that we have a firm understanding of—where these companies are and where they’re going in their development cycle—we’re looking at just a bit over 2 billion gallons of projected production by the end of 2028, from our level of production and import last year of only 16 million gallons ... orders of magnitude higher over the next five years, and we’re busy working with all those companies as they work on their supply chain development and actually start building their facilities ... and looking downstream at what it will take to get this fuel to the end user customers. So, “on the verge” is the best way I can describe the status of SAF at the moment.Listen to the full 16-minute podcast at safmagazine.com.Don't Miss an Episode SAF Magazine’s podcast series:S1 E2&nbsp; Producing Low Carbon Ethanol&nbsp; as a SAF Feedstock Featuring Neal Jakel, Fluid Quip TechnologiesUPCOMING - S1 E3&nbsp; Financing SAF Projects &nbsp; Mark Riedy, Kilpatrick Townsend &amp; Stockton LLPInterested in being a guest?&nbsp; Contact Anna Simet at asimet@bbiinternational.com &nbsp;

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Podcast Preview with Steve Csonka, CAAFI

Scientists across the world agree that to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of climate change, we must peak annual global greenhouse gas emissions before 2025 and reduce them by 43% by 2030. We also know that until net-zero emissions can be achieved, every ton of CO2 emitted to our atmosphere adds to the global warming potential, contributing to the severe weather events we’ve experienced in recent years. If a company delays reducing its annual emissions by just one ton of carbon for five years, it will need to reduce annual emissions by over 13 tons to make up for lost time.The fundamental science underlying this time value of carbon concept is well understood. That’s one reason major transportation sector players, including commercial airlines and air freight and logistics companies, have publicly committed to reducing their annual emissions or even to achieving net-zero corporate emissions. The clean fuels industry stands ready to support these corporate commitments.&nbsp;However, carbon accounting methods are still being developed for companies to inventory the impacts of carbon reduction measures like fuel switching, and track their progress to their net-zero goals. The Greenhouse Gas Protocol began revising its Corporate Standard in 2022, but recently pushed back the release of its Land Sector and Removals Guidance to mid-2024. The Science-Based Targets Initiative correspondingly changed the finalization of its Forest, Land and Agriculture Guidance.&nbsp;These standards and guidance documents are part of a larger package of corporate greenhouse gas quantification principles companies are meant to rely on to prove to stakeholders they are on track to decarbonize and mitigate climate risks. But some draft versions and proposed changes are untenable for the corporate world, especially in consideration of our urgent need to increasingly remove carbon from the atmosphere.&nbsp;Clean fuel producers, including producers of sustainable aviation fuel, know their fuels are less carbon intensive than their petroleum-derived counterparts, helping to avoid that extra ton of carbon. But, quantifying that carbon intensity, and capturing all the carbon in the results, depends on the programmatic framework, whether it is California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard, the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation, or something else.&nbsp;SAF producers aim to provide their customers with the right data on the well-to-wheels emissions of their fuels. But SAF producer knowledge is framed around their product, while their customers’ ledgers are focused on their actions and account for the element of time.Clean Fuels Alliance America has begun the process of reconciling these corporate standards and guidances, including the sustainability certification schemes for CORSIA-eligible fuels and important market-based mechanisms like book-and-claim that socialize SAF premiums while attributing environmental benefits to supply chain partners. Our hope is to guide this clean fuel-focused community to a more streamlined process of quantifying and accurately accounting for the high-quality carbon emissions benefits that SAF offers. As a trade association, we represent the entire supply chain from feedstock production to fuel production and distribution. We are particularly well-positioned to support our fuel producers as they work with their customers to mitigate climate change.We are one pellet in a silver buckshot to decarbonize aviation as well as other transportation sectors, but we aim to do so in a scientifically robust and practically implementable fashion. And we hope you’ll join us in counting and tracking all the carbon to eke out every incremental benefit SAF has to offer.Author: Veronica Bradley&nbsp; Director of Environmental Science, Clean Fuels Alliance America&nbsp; Cleanfuels.org&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;

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Accurately Accounting for SAF Carbon Emission Benefits

When I look back at my career of 15-plus years of writing about the biomass energy space, there is something about the sustainable aviation fuel industry that’s just a little different than any of the other sectors. In particular, the “all hands on deck” effort seems to be one of the main differentiators, and it’s pretty exciting. Governments, academia, laboratories, financers, technology developers, fuel producers, feedstock suppliers, airlines and aircraft manufacturers—they’re all in (though there are cases to be made about longer-term commitments). And perhaps the stakes have never been higher.&nbsp;A core piece of the SAF Grand Challenge puzzle is our laboratories dedicated to assisting industry. For example, the newly renovated Biomass Feedstock National User Facility, which is one of a kind. For our page-16 cover story, “A Major Upgrade,” I spoke with Lab Director Lynn Wendt about the history of the lab and its new equipment and capabilities. Combined with the assets the lab already has, the BFNUF now offers the technology, expertise and potential to help the SAF industry overcome challenges encountered during scaleup and preprocessing, particularly feedstock handling and mechanical processing.&nbsp;In our page-10 technology feature, "On Top of SAF," contributing writer Susanne Retka Schill interviews Topsoe’s Managing Director for the Americas Henrik Rasmussen, who discusses the capabilities and challenges of the North America SAF industry, a major one being cost and funding. &nbsp;“We have the pieces. We have the technology and catalyst blackbox. We can make SAF using many different pathways ... but we’re not the ones financing the plants," Rasmussen says. He also discusses Topsoe’s technology and other pathways, and what he believes will be needed to get more volumes of jet fuel into the market.While there is plenty more content to discuss, I’ll end on shining a light on the upcoming North American SAF Conference &amp; Expo being held in Minneapolis at the end of August. Coproduced by SAF Magazine and the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative, the event is bringing many industry leaders under one roof to discuss the intricacies of this booming, critical industry. By the time this reaches you it will likely have passed, but we’ll be sure to take notes and provide an overview soon.In this second-ever issue of SAF Magazine, we’re just getting started on this journey of bringing you the scoop on SAF. Reach out to me anytime with story ideas, contributing article pitches or podcast guests—I’m all ears.&nbsp; &nbsp;Author: Anna Simet&nbsp; Editor, SAF Magazine&nbsp;

SAF Magazine Issue 2 2023

Columns

Accurately Accounting for SAF Carbon Emission Benefits

All in for SAF

Featured

Fundamentals and the Future

A Major Upgrade

On Top of SAF

Contributions

Spotlight | A SAF Pair of Hands: Partnerships Crucial in Fast-Growing Industry

Spotlight | Enabling 100% Drop-in SAF With Lower Particulate Matter Emissions

Spotlight | SAF Feedstock Flexibility via Pretreatment

Navigating the Financial Skyways: Financing SAF Projects in the US

Departments

Methanol-to-Jet: Taking Off

Podcast Preview with Steve Csonka, CAAFI

SAF Magazine Issue 2 2023.css-7jxktu{position:absolute;bottom:0px;left:0px;right:0px;height:3px;border-radius:3px;background-color:var(--chakra-colors-brandBlack);}

Columns

Accurately Accounting for SAF Carbon Emission Benefits

All in for SAF

Featured

Fundamentals and the Future

A Major Upgrade

On Top of SAF

Contributions

Spotlight | A SAF Pair of Hands: Partnerships Crucial in Fast-Growing Industry

Spotlight | Enabling 100% Drop-in SAF With Lower Particulate Matter Emissions

Spotlight | SAF Feedstock Flexibility via Pretreatment

Navigating the Financial Skyways: Financing SAF Projects in the US

Departments

Methanol-to-Jet: Taking Off

Podcast Preview with Steve Csonka, CAAFI

SAF Magazine Issue 2 2023