MUKILTEO, Wash. — Pacific Northwest leaders on Thursday celebrated the official launch of the Cascadia Sustainable Aviation Accelerator, an initiative that aspires to establish the region as a leader in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
“We have all the pieces in place to ensure this once-in-a-generation economic opportunity is realized, and this accelerator will make that happen,” said Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson.
SAF is widely viewed as the most promising, scalable solution for cutting carbon emissions from aviation. The fuel is typically made from plant-based sources and can be blended with conventional fossil fuels used to power aircraft. But it costs twice as much or more than existing fuels, and the industry has struggled to take off in the U.S. or internationally despite sustainability pledges by airlines and others.
The new accelerator hopes to close that price gap, create a SAF marketplace and boost fuel production. It’s kicking off with $10 million in state funding and a $10 million philanthropic gift.
Guy Palumbo, Amazon’s director of public policy, said the company is a SAF customer, buying 3.7 million gallons of the fuel in 2024 to make a small dent in the carbon impact of its air cargo transportation. And it would buy much more, he added, but the fuel isn’t available.
“This is a systems issue that no one company can solve,” Palumbo said. “You’ve got great companies up here in this room right now that are ready to use this fuel, but we have to make it available.”
The event highlighted the initiative’s public-private partnership by featuring speakers that also included Washington State Department of Commerce Director Joe Nguyen, Washington State University President Elizabeth Cantwell, county and state elected officials, leaders from Alaska Airlines, Boeing, SkyNRG and others.
The accelerator has a multi-pronged strategy that includes:
- Providing R&D resources for startups and other fuel manufacturers, including equipment and expertise.
- Promoting SAF-friendly policies.
- Helping facilitate funding for SAF producers, including purchase agreements with SAF customers.
- Developing feedstock supply chains for the fuel, which can include waste from agriculture and logging, algae, cooking oils, animal fats and manure.
- Supporting infrastructure development for transporting and blending low-carbon fuels with traditional aviation fuels to create SAF.
Establishing the sector is a Herculean task, but supporters argue this region is well-positioned for a SAF hub, citing its status as Boeing’s original home, its robust aviation industry, the availability of feedstocks, its strong environmental policies, and other strengths.
Despite years of work by organizations in Washington and around the globe, SAF comprises less than 1% of the aviation fuel in use today. And geopolitics — most recently including President Trump’s plans to begin cranking up oil production in Venezuela — continue to complicate progress.
“This is going to be a tremendous challenge. It’s going to be hard,” said Sen. Marko Liias. But, he added, “we know the rest of the world is going all in on SAF and this is the fuel of the future. There’s no better place than Washington state to catalyze the production of sustainable aviation fuel at scale.”
The need is pressing. Aviation’s impact on carbon emissions is growing as flights serving passenger travel and air cargo increase. There are companies developing sustainable aircraft, such as those powered by batteries and hydrogen fuel cells, but that technology will take decades to scale and its applications are uncertain. SAF, on the other hand, can be used in existing aircraft.
Multiple SAF companies are already operating in the Pacific Northwest:
- SkyNRG is a Dutch company building a SAF facility in Walla Walla, Wash., and will use renewable natural gas that’s captured at landfills and from dairy waste as a feedstock. On Thursday the company announced it has secured key environmental approvals from the state, and plans to start commercial operations in 2030.
- Montana Renewables is manufacturing approximately 30 million gallons of synthetic paraffinic kerosene, or SPK, per year which is blended with jet fuel to make SAF. The Montana company employs used cooking oils, animal fat from meat production, and plant oils as its feedstock and plans to dramatically increase production.
- NXTClean Fuels has plans to develop two clean fuels facilities in Oregon. Its flagship site, a $3 billion plant at Port Westward on the Columbia River, is in the final stages of federal permitting and could break ground this year, with operations starting in late 2028 at the earliest.
- Twelve is a California-based company that broke ground in 2023 on a SAF facility called AirPlant One in Moses Lake, Wash., and is currently commissioning its facility. It plans to use liquid ethanol produced in the state as its carbon source.
In the coming months, the Cascadia Sustainable Aviation Accelerator is moving temporarily into a commercial space at Everett’s Paine Field airport. Initial funding has been secured to build a new facility, with the hope of completing construction no later than 2029.
The accelerator effort took root two years ago when Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers announced plans for a SAF center and state legislators from the county committed to seek funding for the initiative.
“Washington has been the SAF leader from the beginning,” said SkyNRG executive and former state Sen. Andy Billig. The first commercial test flight using SAF came from a Washington producer and was used on a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747-400 flying from London to Amsterdam in 2008.
Read the full article here
