Latest News

Biden group sets out course for ethanol aviation fuel subsidies

President Joe Biden's. administration on Tuesday released assistance on its sustainable. aviation fuel (SAF) aid program that permits cornbased. ethanol to qualify as a feedstock provided it is sourced from. farms that use climatefriendly growing strategies.

The strategy is likely to be bittersweet for the politically. powerful U.S. ethanol market that is eager to secure the. aids however had wished for a lower hurdle.

Flight so far accounts for about 2% of U.S. carbon. contamination and is one of the fastest growing sources.

Biden hopes producing a subsidized market for lower-emissions. SAF can counter that danger, while likewise giving a boost to farm. country, an essential constituency in November's governmental. election.

Sustainable aviation fuel is a crucial part of the. Biden-Harris administration's efforts to shift the American. economy to a tidy energy future and restore the middle class. from the bottom up to the middle out in rural America, said. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.

SAF can be made from corn, soy or other farming. items. But to access the SAF subsidies that make it. financially feasible to produce, refiners should demonstrate their. fuel is at least 50% lower in emissions than petroleum jet fuel.

Ethanol-based SAF can meet that limit, according to the. assistance, only if corn farmers utilize a bundle of agriculture. practices that consist of no-till, cover cropping and effective. fertilizer application that hold carbon in the soil.

Soy-based biodiesel will also qualify if the soy farms use a. mix of no-till and cover cropping, according to the. statement.

Recognition of so-called environment smart agriculture practices. in the subsidy program will be effective for fuels made in 2023. and 2024, after which it could be changed or broadened,. officials said.

The SAF subsidies total up to $1.25 per gallon for fuels. that hit the 50% emissions reduction threshold, and approximately $1.75. per gallon for those that exceed it.

The plan was based upon an update to the GREET environment model. that covers lifecycle emissions of ethanol and other biofuels. under a variety of scenarios and consists of the climate impact. of related land usage modifications.

The biofuel lobby had actually pressed hard to make sure the GREET update. would make it simple for ethanol to qualify as an SAF feedstock.

Some ecological groups and researchers are concerned the. SAF method will not deliver the assured climate gains,. nevertheless, in part since of clinical unpredictability about the. benefits of no-till or cover crop farm methods and the sheer. volumes of fuel that will be needed.

The bottom line is that to decarbonize aviation, U.S. airlines need a volume of alternative fuels that sustainable. biomass alone can not meet, stated Mark Brownstein, Senior Vice. President, Energy Shift, at the Environmental Defense Fund.

Bill Hohenstein, director of USDA's Office of Energy and. Environmental Policy, stated the administration is confident in. the plan: We do have robust data, analysis, details and. modeling that all supports the conclusions that these practices. do have greenhouse gas benefits, he said.