Last week the Loan Programs Office | U.S. Department of Energy (LPO) backed two projects with $2.9 Billion in conditional loan guarantees to propel U.S. sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and biofuel expansion:
1. Montana Renewables, LLC in Great Falls, MT: Converts vegetable oils, fats, and greases into SAF, renewable diesel (RD), and renewable naphtha (RN). When fully expanded, this facility will meet 10% of the U.S. SAF Grand Challenge goal of 3 billion gallons annually by 2030—positioning itself as a leading global SAF producer.
2. Gevo, Inc.'s Net-Zero 1 in Lake Preston, SD: The first large-scale U.S. facility to convert corn starch into SAF, renewable diesel, and renewable naphtha. This innovative project will integrate carbon capture and renewable power to lower emissions, while leveraging low-carbon, U.S.-grown corn from local farmers.
Low-carbon technologies to decarbonize aviation are still in their early days—immature, expensive, and challenging to scale.
Could these two projects be the breakthrough needed for SAF production? What other projects would be candidates?