US green jet fuel project at risk
Washington — The US drive to develop sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) using ethanol could be slowed because of mounting opposition to proposed pipelines that would curb greenhouse gas emissions from ethanol plants by capturing carbon dioxide and carrying it away to other states for storage.
Ethanol industry players say the developments raise questions about future growth for US producers of the biofuel, including POET, Valero and others, that have been banking on proposed carbon capture and storage (CCS) pipeline projects across the heartland.
These are needed to reduce ethanol’s climate effect enough for the fuel to qualify as a feedstock for SAF under the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
President Joe Biden’s administration has committed to producing 3-billion gallons (11-billion litres) of SAF annually by 2030 and 35-billion gallons (132.4-billion litres) by 2050.
The goal is to decarbonise the airline industry while also supporting the ethanol sector and the maize farmers that supply it.
The proposed pipeline projects would siphon millions of tonnes of CO2 off Midwest ethanol processing plants and move the gas to other states for underground injection. Some residents along the pipeline routes worry the pipelines could spring deadly leaks or that their land will be seized to build the projects.
Last month, Omaha-based Navigator CO2 Ventures cancelled its proposed pipeline. Two others under way from Iowa-based Summit Carbon Solutions and Denver-based Wolf Carbon Solutions face permitting setbacks and public resistance.
“Without carbon capture and storage, conventional ethanol does not have a pathway into SAF under today’s policies,” said Homer Bhullar, vice-president at biofuel producer Valero Energy, which was an investor in Navigator, said on the company’s October 26 quarterly earnings call.
Valero declined an interview request.
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