Full Title: Refueling Aviation in the US: Evolution of US Sustainable Aviation Fuel Policy
Author(s): Andrew Chen, Alex Piper, Jane Sadler, Aamir Shams, and Sebastian Weeks
Publisher(s): Rocky Mountain Institute
Publication Date: February 21, 2024
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is one of the few technologically mature pathways to decarbonize the aviation sector — a major source of international and domestic pollution and a sector in which demand is expected to continue growing. This makes SAF production an urgent and important part of any holistic decarbonization strategy. This report seeks to summarize, explore, and understand how policy has shaped the SAF market in the United States and how the evolving policy landscape will continue to shape this growth.
The costs of producing SAF make it an uncompetitive solution compared with conventional, carbon emissions–intensive jet fuel being used today. The picture is further complicated by the different types of policy decisions and designs that can advantage some types of SAF over others. Further, as different SAF pathways scale and attract investment for projects, it will have varying impacts on markets that compete for similar feedstocks (renewable diesel in the case of bio-based SAF; petrochemical manufacturing and other industrial decarbonization end uses in the case of power-to-liquid SAF or eSAF).
There are significant and generous federal incentives for SAF production, state low-carbon fuel programs, and SAF-specific state incentives that can all be stacked. Finally, the Renewable Fuel Standard continues to provide revenue for SAF producers to generate valuable credits under this program when their fuel is blended into conventional jet fuel supplies.