DOE, USDA, DOT and FAA release SAF Grand Challenge roadmap

In Washington, an interagency team led by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Grand Challenge Roadmap Implementation Framework in November 2024. The Implementation Framework highlights current Federal agency capabilities and programs aligned with the actions called out in the SAF Grand Challenge Roadmap and identifies existing gaps where additional effort, public-private partnerships, and support will be needed to meet the goals set forth in the SAF Grand Challenge. The gaps include:

Creating certainty in U.S. government policy to support the build-out of SAF supply chains.

Expanding data and analysis and improving models to perform transparent and credible SAF supply chain analysis to inform business models and policy development.

Expanding purpose-grown feedstocks and tapping the potential of waste and residual feedstocks.

Optimizing economically viable and sustainable feedstock supply chains.

Using existing ethanol and petroleum industry infrastructure to rapidly scale-up and deploy.

Reducing risk and coalition-building.

Communicating SAF Grand Challenge progress and benefits transparently and effectively.