U.S. Farm & Biofuel Leaders Seek Certainty on Sustainable Aviation Fuel

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A multi-state coalition of biofuel and farm advocates called on President Biden’s Treasury Department to swiftly resolve any questions standing in the way of efforts to scale up U.S. production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). Specifically, they urged the administration to quickly adopt the U.S. Department of Energy’s GREET model for the calculation of SAF tax credits (40B) under the Inflation Reduction Act – completing a process that was originally scheduled to conclude by March 1.

“We are disappointed that the administration did not fulfill its commitment to release a modified GREET model by March 1, but we appreciate the importance of getting the modeling right,” wrote 26 organizations across 13 states, including Clean Fuels Alliance America, Growth Energy, National Corn Growers Association, National Farmers Union, National Oilseed Processors Association, and the Renewable Fuels Association. “At the same time, we caution against contradictory changes to GREET that would stack unwarranted penalties on agricultural feedstocks, cut rural America out of a promising green energy market, and undermine any realistic path to achieving U.S. SAF goals.”

SAF advocates emphasized the availability of well-established methodologies for certifying climate smart agriculture (CSA) practices, in contrast to speculative and unverifiable penalties for indirect land use change (ILUC) favored by opponents of U.S. agriculture.

“Failing to value regenerative and CSA advancements, as well as the full suite of biorefining innovations cited in guidance to date, would leave substantial carbon emissions reductions on the table and represent a missed opportunity to energize these promising sectors,” they wrote. “A consistent approach to ILUC and CSA is a vital part of giving farmers and SAF producers a credible, durable, and predictable framework for making the commitments necessary to effectuate IRA and the SAF Grand Challenge.”

The full text of the letter and a list of signers can be found here