A coalition of major companies and institutions in Minnesota has formed to rapidly scale production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The group aims to make the U.S. state a leading SAF hub.
Minnesota turns out to be one of the best places in North America to do so, thanks to a combination of high air travel demand through Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport, existing biofuels infrastructure, a robust agricultural economy to support feedstock production, and strong research assets from institutions, such as the University of Minnesota.
The coalition includes founding members Delta Air Lines, Bank of America, Ecolab, and Xcel Energy, and is coordinated by the Greater MSP economic development partnership.
The Minnesota SAF Hub aims to bring commercial SAF volumes to Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport by 2025, pending state incentives. Delta said the hub could enable 10% SAF use at the airport by 2027, rising to 50% by 2035. It called the coalition a “game changer” for scaling volume.
Ecolab’s CEO said its process expertise can help the coalition “meet the challenge and opportunity of sustainable aviation”.
Xcel Energy added that SAF supports its net-zero by 2050 vision and that it is also exploring SAF for power generation too.
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