Federal Aviation

Administration

Federal Aviation Sustainable Administration

Aviation Fuels 

(SAF)

Update to FAA REDAC 

E&E Subcommittee

To: E&E REDAC Subcommittee

By: Nate Brown & Anna Oldani

Date: March 10, 2021
Federal Aviation

Administration

FAA SAF Program Focus

2

Testing

accelerate SAF 

development

•Test fuels 

•Improve testing 

methods

• Conduct evaluation

•Streamline approval

Analysis

environmental and 

economic 

sustainability

• Lifecycle emissions

• Cost reduction

•Supply potential

•Supply chain 

opportunities

Coordination

support SAF 

integration

•Public-private 

partnership – CAAFI

• U.S. interagency 

cooperation

•International 

cooperation – ICAO
Federal Aviation

Administration

SAF Funding Levels

3

(Proposed)

$9,276,589 

$3,537,999 

$4,616,154 

$5,450,000 

 $-

 $1,000,000

 $2,000,000

 $3,000,000

 $4,000,000

 $5,000,000

 $6,000,000

 $7,000,000

 $8,000,000

 $9,000,000

 $10,000,000

FY2018 Actual FY2019 Actual FY2020 Actual FY2021 Enacted
Federal Aviation

Administration

Benefits of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF)

• SAF are “drop-in” liquid aviation fuels – same infrastructure, 

engines & aircraft

• SAF reduce GHG and air quality emissions substantially – best 

near term path to aviation de-carbonization

• Viable technologies exist - seven alternative fuels currently 

approved for use, more under evaluation for approval

• Scalable feedstocks – wastes & residues, biomass, sugars, oils 

and energy crops can all supply SAF

• Widely accepted by airlines, business & general aviation

• Broadly supported among federal agencies as meeting critical 

goals - climate, energy security, rural economic development 

• Critical to international efforts to address aviation emissions
Federal Aviation

Administration

Challenges to SAF to be addressed

• Timely certification for aviation use of SAF solutions

• Increasing blend limits to greater than 50%

• Reducing the costs of production

• Expanding scale of production

• Availability of conversion infrastructure

• Availability of feedstock supply 
Federal Aviation

Administration

Agenda

Testing

• Qualification Process

• ASTM Status

Analysis

• Supply Chain Tools & Analysis

Coordination

• ICAO CAEP FTG & LTAG

• Federal

• Commercialization

6
Federal Aviation

Administration

Agenda

Testing

• Qualification Process

• ASTM Status

Analysis

• Supply Chain Tools & Analysis

Coordination

• ICAO CAEP FTG & LTAG

• Federal

• Commercialization

7
Federal Aviation

Administration

Fuel Qualification – ASTM D4054

• ASTM International 

manages jet fuel 

specification

• Does not determine 

sustainability of fuel, 

only safety, 

performance

• FAA and Defense 

support evaluation of 

alternative fuels 

through:

– Clearinghouse: 

certification & 

qualification testing

– Data gathering & 

review

– New test method 

development

8

Multi-tiered qualification process involves stakeholders across industry and government
Federal Aviation

Administration

D4054 Clearinghouse

Steve Zabarnick

October 2019

9

FAA Center of Excellence – ASCENT – facilitates centralized jet fuel 

testing through UDRI Clearinghouse

• Coordinating with 

EU and UK efforts to 

support and develop 

additional evaluation 

capabilities

• EU funding will 

support 

Clearinghouse 

testing (cost-share)
Federal Aviation

Administration

Agenda

Testing

• Qualification Process

• ASTM Status

Analysis

• Supply Chain Tools & Analysis

Coordination

• ICAO CAEP FTG & LTAG

• Federal

• Commercialization

10
Federal Aviation

Administration

A1 FT SPK

A2 HEFA SPK

A3 SIP

A4 SPK/A

A5 ATJ

A6 CHJ

(D1655)

Lipids Co-processing

REVO?

Juniper?

Forge?

Brightmark

Energy?

CSIIP

Through FAA support, seven SAF categories have been annexed in ASTM D7566

Virent SAK

HFP-HEFA 

(Green 

Diesel)

Virent SK

ATJ-SKA 

(Byogy, Swedish 

Biofuels)

Shell IH2

Exploratory Discussions

Vertimass

ASTM D4054 SAF Qualification Status

Mark Rumizen

February 22, 2021

Gathering more data to support 

ASTM ballot to increase HEFA 

cycloalkane limit 

Reclassified as 

“inactive” due to 

lack of engagement

Developing Tier 3 

& 4 test program 

with Clearinghouse

Initiated 

compositional 

testing on C3 and 

C5 alcohol 

feedstock blends

D4054 

testing 

initiated

Boeing responses to 

OEM step 3 review 

comments 

submitted, awaiting 

Neste confirmation 

of commercialization

Global Bioenergies

Met with OEMs on Nov 2 to 

review plastics to fuel process

A7 HC-HEFA SPK

FT Co-processing

11

Indian

CSIR-IIP

Reviewed 

with OEMs on 

Aug 24, D4054 

testing 

initiated

OMV Re-Oil

Virent SAK

(inactive)

Virent SK

(inactive)
Federal Aviation

Administration

As a result of the investments made by FAA and others, time and fuel volume 

requirements for ASTM International approval have fallen over time

Reduce Fuel Approval Volumes

Fuel Type ASTM

Data Review

Final Phase 

II Report

ASTM

Specification

(D7566)

Estimated 

gallons of fuel 

produced for 

testing

Estimated 

time from 

first review to 

approval

Composition

FT-SPK 09/2007 09/2008 09/2009 710,0001 3 years

Mostly normal/ 

iso-paraffins

HEFA-SPK 06/2008 05/2010 07/2011 626,0002 3 years

SIP* 06/2011 04/2013 06/2014 16,000 3 years

Gevo ATJ-SPK 

(isobutanol) 12/2010 04/2015 06/2016 93,1003 5 1/2 years

Lanzatech 

ATJ-SPK 

(ethanol)

09/2016 07/2017 04/2018 504 1 1/3 years 

ARA CHJ 06/2012 10/2018 01/2020 79,000 7 years Wider range of 

molecules

IHI HC-HEFA** 02/2019 06/2019 04/2020 50 ~1 year 40% 

cycloparaffin

12

ARA – Applied Research Associates

1USAF fuel purchases in 2007-08 for fleetwide qualification

2USAF & Navy fuel purchases in 2009-11 for fleetwide qualification

3USAF, Navy and CLEEN fuel purchases in 2012-2014

4Only Tier 1-2 testing due to existing knowledge base and similarity to approved fuels

*Approved at 10% volume

**First Fast Track approval – approved at 10% volume blend limit
Federal Aviation

Administration

Beyond 50%

• Recent conversations emphasize need for fuel 

evaluations to support higher blend limits

• Current ASTM D7566 specifications limit most 

pathways to 50% by volume blending with 

conventional jet fuel

• Seeking to isolate fuel properties which 

currently constrain fuel blend volumes

• Need to ensure fuels are drop-in compatible 

with existing and legacy systems

13

Evaluate testing programs to support higher blend limits of alternative 

jet fuels
Federal Aviation

Administration

Agenda

Testing

• Qualification Process

• ASTM Status

Analysis

• Supply Chain Tools & Analysis

Coordination

• ICAO CAEP FTG & LTAG

• Federal

• Commercialization

14
Federal Aviation

Administration

Analysis: Supply Chain Research & Tools

• Considering entire supply chain via 

analysis of: 

– Feedstock production

– Techno-economics of pathways

– Existing infrastructure

– Community assets

– Transportation routes and capacity

– Economic Impacts

• Three regional studies: 

– Inland Pacific Northwest 

– Hawaii

– Southeast/Tennessee

• Developing open source tools 

– FTOT; TEA models

• Support for ICAO CAEP 15

Research Team:

• ASCENT: Washington State U., MIT, Purdue, U. 

Tennessee, U. of Hawaii, Penn State U. 

• U.S. DOT Volpe Transportation Center, DOE Argonne 

National Lab & National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL)

Understand benefits, costs and potential supply

https://ascent.aero/project/alternative-jet-fuel-supply-chain-analysis/

https://github.com/VolpeUSDOT/FTOT-Public
Federal Aviation

Administration

Freight & Fuels Transportation 

Optimization Tool (FTOT)

16

Motivation: Transportation costs, infrastructure requirements & emissions 

depend on mode choice & routing

Objective: Understand transportation needs & impacts of SAF production

Outcome: FTOT

– Optimize mode choice & routing of feedstocks 

& products

• Assess viable options

• Identify SAF supply patterns

− Optimize routings & material flow over 

multimodal GIS network

− Collaboration with WSU; USAF; Southeast 

Partnership for Advanced Renewables from 

Carinata (SPARC) and others

− FTOT 2020.4 released 01/08/2021

− https://github.com/VolpeUSDOT/FTOT-Public
Federal Aviation

Administration

Frontiers in Energy Research SAF Topic

• Online Journal 

• SAF Research Topic

– Central point for SAF research

– Make ASCENT 01 work visible

– Open to other research

– Variety of article types

• Feedstocks; Conversion; C/Q; 

Economics; Environment; 

Supply chain; Cost/risk reduction;

& Policy

• Editors: WSU; FAA; DOE; USDA; Volpe; PNNL

17 https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/19527/sustainableaviation-fuels
Federal Aviation

Administration

Agenda

Testing

• Qualification Process

• ASTM Status

Analysis

• Supply Chain Tools & Analysis

Coordination

• ICAO CAEP FTG & LTAG

• Federal

• Commercialization

18
Federal Aviation

Administration

Sustainable Aviation Fuels and CORSIA

CORSIA Eligible Fuels provide a secondary means to comply with CORSIA

1. Offsetting 

2. Claiming Emissions Reductions from CEF

EEEEyy = FFFFFF ∗ �MMMMff,yy ∗

ff

1 − LL ff

LL

Life cycle 

emissions value 

for a CORSIA 

eligible fuel

ICAO’s 

Basket of Measures

Alt. 

Fuels

19

SAF and 

CORSIA are 

Key
Federal Aviation

Administration

20

• FTG working across five 

subgroups with a focus on 

maintaining the fuels-related 

sections of Annex 16 Vol IV 

(CORSIA). 

• LTAG-TG working to inform 

41st ICAO Assembly in October 

2022 on feasibility of a longterm global aspirational goal for 

international civil aviation CO2

emissions reductions. 

• LTAG-TG Fuels Sub Group 

focused on fuel production and 

life cycle GHG emissions 

projections out to 2070.

ICAO Fuels Task Group (FTG) and Long Term Aspirational Goal 

Task Group (LTAG-TG) Fuels Sub Group 

For additional information on the CAEP Task Groups

FTG: https://www.icao.int/environmental-protection/Pages/CAEP-FTG.aspx

LTAG: https://www.icao.int/environmental-protection/Pages/LTAG.aspx
Federal Aviation

Administration

Life Cycle GHG Emissions and Sustainability

• FAA and ASCENT P1 / Volpe / ANL Team providing key data and 

leadership that is determining how Sustainable Aviation Fuels and Lower 

Carbon Aviation Fuels are credited within CORSIA

• Much work ongoing to develop core life cycle emissions values for SAF 

made from waste CO emissions, jatropha, and co-processing of 

biomaterials with petroleum in today’s refineries

• Team also developing a life cycle analysis methodology for use with 

LCAF to determine fuel eligibility under sustainability criteria 1 and 

amount of crediting

• Sustainability Certification Schemes have been approved by the ICAO 

Council and posted on the CORISA Eligible Fuel website

• Sustainability criteria are currently being developed for LCAF based on 

the list of SAF criteria

• FAA helped to convene a series of meetings with CAEP Members and 

Observers on LCAF to help overcome current impasse

For additional information on CORSIA Eligible Fuels

https://www.icao.int/environmental-protection/CORSIA/Pages/CORSIA-Eligible-Fuels.aspx 21
Federal Aviation

Administration

Future Fuel Production

• FTG & LTAG-TG have considerable 

ongoing work to project future SAF 

production – being led by FAA and 

ASCENT P1 / Volpe / ANL Team

• Team have assembled a global nearterm SAF production database and are 

extending it to 2035-2050

• Team looking carefully at SAF 

production from waste CO/CO2 gases 

and atmospheric CO2

• ASCENT P52 team are working to 

quantify infrastructure challenges 

associated with hydrogen use by 

commercial aviation

• Team considering fuel volumes, life 

cycle GHG emissions, investment 

requirements, etc.

2020 2030 2040 2050 2060 2070 SAF Production

FTG Effort

LTAG-TG Effort

Fuel Category Fuel Types in Category

Sustainable 

Aviation Fuels 

(SAF)

Biomass-based fuel

Solid and liquid waste-based fuels

Gaseous waste-based fuels

Atmospheric CO2-based fuels

Lower Carbon 

Aviation Fuels 

(LCAF)

Lower carbon petroleum fuels 

Non drop-in 

fuels

Electricity

Liquefied gas aviation fuels

Cryogenic hydrogen

22
Federal Aviation

Administration

Agenda

Testing

• Qualification Process

• ASTM Status

Analysis

• Supply Chain Tools & Analysis

Coordination

• ICAO CAEP FTG & LTAG

• Federal

• Commercialization

23
Federal Aviation

Administration

The Biomass Research and Development Board 

Leads the Bioeconomy Initiative Membership

Senate-confirmed sub-cabinet officials 

from 8 executive branch agencies 

• Co-Chaired by DOE and USDA; at least one Board 

Member from each of 8 agencies

• Coordinate federal R&D activities relating to biofuels & biobased products & their commercialization with 

collaboration between agencies

• Commercialization includes production at competitive 

prices via collaborations to enhance efficiencies along the 

entire bioenergy supply chain

• Assesses & provide strategic guidance regarding energy & 

environmental impacts

• Directs Board Operations Committee and interagency 

working groups (IWG)

• SAF IWG established in July 2020 – co-chaired by 

FAA

Co-chair Co-chair
Federal Aviation

Administration

Biomass R&D Board

• The Sustainable Aviation Fuels Interagency Working 

Group (AAF IWG) 

– Ensuring aviation biofuel research and development efforts reflect 

critical needs

– Advancing a revised and coordinated federal research and 

development roadmap on sustainable aviation fuels

– Developing and scaling best practices to foster the success of 

sustainable aviation fuels in commercial, business, and military aviation 

sectors.

• Discussion of a SAF “Grand Challenge” within the 

Board.

25

For additional information on SAF IWG:

https://biomassboard.gov/sustainable-aviation-fuels-interagency-working-group
Federal Aviation

Administration

Federal Alternative Jet Fuels R&D Strategy - 2016

Purpose

Enable the development, production, and use of environmentally sustainable, costcompetitive and socially responsible alternative jet fuel with stable supply to significantly 

meet the needs of U.S. jet aviation (released by White House OSTP June 2016)

R&D Goals & Objectives

• Feedstock Development, Production, and 

Logistics

• Fuel Conversion and Scale-Up

• Fuel Testing and Evaluation

• Integrated Challenges

8 participating Departments & Agencies: USDA, 

DOC, DOD, NASA, FAA, DOE, EPA, NSF, DOS

Available: 

http://www.caafi.org/files/Federal_Alternative_Jet_Fuels_Research_and_

Development_Strategy.pdf
Federal Aviation

Administration

New initiatives?

• Emphasis on transportation 

decarbonization

• Interest in SAF from leadership at DOT, 

DOE, USDA and others

• SAF a critical technology for aviation

27
Federal Aviation

Administration

Agenda

Testing

• Qualification Process

• ASTM Status

Analysis

• Supply Chain Tools & Analysis

Coordination

• ICAO CAEP FTG & LTAG

• Federal

• Commercialization

28
Federal Aviation

Administration

Where we stand on U.S. SAF commercialization

Initiation under way, still early, but growing

• Five years of sustained & 

increasing commercial use 

• 4.6M gallons in 2020 – 190% 

increase over 2019

• Commercial & General 

Aviation engaged

• Two facilities in operation

• Two facilities under 

construction, others in 

development

• Cost delta still a challenge, 

and renewable diesel favored

• New parties interested in 

SAF

29

*Reflects voluntarily reported data on use by U.S. airlines, U.S. 

government, manufacturers, other fuel users, and foreign carriers 

uplifting at U.S. airports. 

^ 2017-2020 calculation incorporates data reported by EPA for RFS2 

RINs for renewable jet fuel.

Neat gallons/year
Federal Aviation

Administration

Airline & Producer Offtake agreements

Demonstration of broad airline industry commitment

Collectively, announced 

airline offtake agreements 

total $6.4B and >350M gpy

Credit: CAAFI
Federal Aviation

Administration

Worldwide SAF production Projection

Announced intentions with specific commitments to SAF

~36M

Paramount

3

Porvoo

33

~43M ~49M ~422M ~496M ~816M ~??M

Singapore #1, Sierra 330

7

Silsbee

minor

Luverne

10 4 locations

100

Lakeview

6

#2,Gary, IN 21

Gothenburg ~70

La Mede

?

Delfzijl 33

New Orleans

29

2 locations

24

Paramount

150

Credit: CAAFI. Not comprehensive; CAAFI estimates (based on technology used) where 

production slates are not specified

2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025

Year

-end Production 

Levels (gpy

)
Federal Aviation

Administration

• 2021 Goals & Priorities

– Communicate the Value Proposition of SAF

– Enhance the Fuel Qualification Approach

– Align Efforts to Enable Commercial Deployment 

of U.S. SAF Supply

– Implement Frameworks & Share Best Practices 

• Virtual workshop planned for June 2021

• In person General Meeting for June 2022

32

• Continued outreach & coordination

Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI)

A public/private partnership of FAA, A4A, AIA & ACI-NA
Federal Aviation

Administration

Next Steps

• Establish the development of Sustainable Aviation 

Fuels (SAF) as a key DOT and U.S. climate priority 

– Continue funding of testing efforts including higher blend levels

– Continue Analysis efforts to address scaling and deployment of 

fuels

– Continue outreach via CAAFI to support industry activity

– Exercise leadership on the Biomass Board to promote 

interagency support for SAF

– Develop a multi-agency roadmap for increasing use and 

availability of SAF

– Monitor legislative efforts underway for SAF support policies
Federal Aviation

Administration

QUESTIONS

?

34