Sustainable jet fuel crops get a boost in state funding
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Researchers at the University of Minnesota say they’re planning to plant more crops that can be converted to airplane fuel.
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency officials gathered next to a field of bright-green pennycress at the University’s St. Paul campus to announce $75,000 in state funding for the U of M’s research into sustainable aviation fuel — and celebrate Earth Day.
MPCA Commissioner Katrina Kessler said sustainable aviation fuel is a way to cut down on emissions from transportation — Minnesota’s biggest source of pollution.
“Aviation is a sector that is really hard to decarbonize, but today we have a clear opportunity to lead,” Kessler said.
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The funding is part of the state’s push to scale up sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF. Instead of fossil fuels, it’s made from crops like soybeans, corn, camelina and pennycress. It’s blended with typical fuel, and can run in commercial planes without any modifications.
Researchers say SAF emits less greenhouse gases — up to 70 percent less than standard jet fuel. It’s caught the attention of the aviation industry, as airlines aim to cut emissions without cutting service. Delta is part of a Minnesota partnership with a goal of getting 100 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport by 2030.
To get there, researchers say they’ll need to plant a lot more crops.
The new funding from MPCA will support a study aimed at planting one million acres of camelina across the region.
Mitch Hunter is the co-director of the U’s Forever Green Initiative, which is leading the effort to step up production of winter-hardy crops, like camelina and pennycress. Hunter said at this point in the spring, there are 17 million acres of cropland in Minnesota with nothing growing on them. Winter crops could fill that space, keep soil healthy and prevent erosion, and they have ready buyers in the airline industry.
But he said it’s a challenge to quickly get seeds to farmers, grow the crops and produce SAF — all steps that still need to be built in the budding industry.
“We, in some sense, need to solve all of those at the same time so that we can lift the whole supply chain at once,” Hunter said.
Hunter said this project will build a “road map” for getting more crops in the ground.
The $75,000 from the MPCA is topping off other funding, including $10 million from the U.S. Department of Energy. But Hunter said the federal government is reassessing that award as it makes sweeping cuts.
Kessler said that federal uncertainty makes the state funding all the more important.
“We can't control what's happening in DC and at the federal level, but I know that we are all doing as much as we can to make sure that we underscore the needs here, and that we can take care of the economy and the environment within Minnesota,” Kessler said.