In 2021, the White House set out to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from the U.S. aviation sector by 2050, targeting a 20 percent reduction in emissions by 2030. In efforts to achieve this goal, ethanol producers such as David Zimmerman, CEO of Big River Resources, have been exploring ethanol as a source of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
“If you talk about sustainable aviation fuel, it’s still out there,” says Zimmerman. “The hard part for SAF is, from an ethanol producer standpoint, we’re focused on it but until the industry is able to decarbonize in greater quantities, rather than just a plant here and a plant there, it’s hard to supply the sheer volume that demand center is going going to be asking for in the years to come.”
As the ethanol industry decarbonizes allowing for low-carbon intense ethanol to be available, more opportunities for SAF will unfold.
