Minnesota lawmakers hear push to scale sustainable aviation fuel industry, with feedstock and verification questions

Members of the Minnesota House Ag Finance and Policy Committee heard testimony on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) on the committee’s opening meeting day, focusing on how the state can scale production, what feedstocks to prioritize and how to verify carbon reductions.

Deputy Commissioner Andrea Vawbel of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture told the committee that Minnesota’s 2023 SAF tax credit was designed “to stack on top of federal IRA tax credits for SAF production” and called the state policy a competitive advantage for attracting producers and blenders to Minnesota.

The issue matters to lawmakers because aviation is a hard-to-decarbonize sector and airlines and industry groups say SAF will be a central lever in reducing emissions. Jeff Davison of Delta Airlines told the committee, “SAF will make up about 60% of our efforts to get to our net 0 goal,” and described airlines’ demand targets and current supply constraints.

Panelists from the private sector and agriculture groups outlined feedstock pathways and…