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RFA Participates in White House Roundtable on Sustainable Aviation Fuels

September 9, 2021

White House, SAF

           

Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper joined other industry leaders and officials from the Biden Administration today for a White House roundtable discussion on the future of sustainable aviation fuels. In conjunction with the event, the White House announced a goal to achieve 3 billion gallons of SAF production and reduce aviation-related emissions by 20 percent by 2030.

 

During the event, Cooper shared RFA’s view that SAF production presents a major new market opportunity for ethanol producers, as the lifecycle carbon footprint of ethanol continues to shrink and the economics of ethanol-to-jet fuel processes continue to improve. He also highlighted a recent letter from RFA member companies to President Biden, in which they pledged that the ethanol they produce will achieve an average GHG reduction of 70% compared to petroleum by 2030 and a net-zero emission carbon footprint by 2050 or sooner.

 

“The ethanol industry sees tremendous promise and potential in the emerging market for sustainable aviation fuels, and RFA supports the goals announced today by President Biden’s administration,” Cooper said. “Ethanol has a decades-long proven track record for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles, and we are confident that ethanol will play a central role in cleaning up aviation fuels as well. Today’s average corn ethanol already cuts GHG emissions in half compared to petroleum, and some readily available sources of ethanol in the market have been certified by the California Air Resources Board as providing a 70-80% GHG reduction. With the right policy signals and support, ethanol-to-jet technologies can quickly scale up to meet the future SAF needs of the aviation sector. RFA was honored to participate in today’s roundtable, and we look forward to working with the Biden administration, major airlines, SAF technology innovators, and other stakeholders to decarbonize the aviation fuels sector.”