Taking Ag to New Heights: U.S. Ethanol’s Role in Sustainable Aviation Fuel

By Meg Whitty, Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Marketing, LanzaJet 

Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to speak at the No Bull Summit in St. Louis, where the topic of the day was Sustainable Aviation Fuel or ​“SAF.” Held at Ballpark Village, adjacent to the iconic Busch Stadium, the summit was everything Americana (baseball, big screens, and stalk talk), bringing together farmers and ag leaders to explore how innovations like SAF can create new opportunities for an industry that keeps small towns going across rural America.

The No Bull Summit was a powerful reminder that SAF – and biofuels in general – are at an inflection point. As the world looks to reduce carbon emissions in aviation and transition to cleaner energy sources, the U.S. has a unique opportunity to lead the way by scaling up the production and use of these fuels. With abundant natural resources, a well-established ethanol industry, and an ingrained drive to innovate, the U.S. has the foundation needed to make SAF an American achievement. However, to fully realize this potential, we must capitalize on our strengths while also addressing the challenges that stand in our way.

For America to truly lead in the development and deployment of SAF, we must leverage the country’s domestic resources. The beauty of SAF is that it can be produced from a variety of feedstocks, including ethanol. The U.S. is already a global leader in ethanol production, particularly from corn, which presents a significant opportunity to contribute to the SAF supply chain. At LanzaJet, we see this as a tremendous advantage. Our technology is versatile and scalable, capable of converting ethanol from various sources – whether it’s corn, sugarcane, carbon emissions from industrial process – including ethanol production, forest residues, or even municipal solid waste – into high-quality SAF. This flexibility ensures that as the SAF market grows, there will be ample opportunities for American ethanol producers to play a central role in this emerging industry, reinforcing the critical link between agriculture and clean energy.

Advancing the role of American ethanol in the SAF market will require us to align our efforts with the evolving regulatory landscape. The Inflation Reduction Act sets high benchmarks for carbon intensity (CI) scores, which are critical for qualifying for SAF tax credits. While U.S. corn ethanol is a cornerstone of our domestic energy production – and for transportation fuels as it gets blended into gasoline today, it currently faces challenges in meeting these stringent criteria based on existing models, particularly under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s modeling for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), which has not been updated since 2010, is not reflective of the latest science, and does not currently recognize the substantial emissions reductions corn ethanol can achieve from practices like Carbon Capture and Sequestration or Climate Smart Agriculture. In contrast, sugarcane ethanol has a lower CI score, allowing it to qualify under the 40B tax credit and the RFS, enabling LanzaJet to use it as a feedstock for SAF. 

Reflecting on the conversations at the No Bull Summit, it’s clear that the work ahead is both challenging and vital. Having spent years the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where I helped farmers access funding for renewable energy projects, I understand the uncertainty that many in the agriculture community feel. Farmers and growers, who have been asked to grow crops to sell, are now being asked to do something fundamentally different – lower their CI scores. This shift is not just about adjusting practices; it’s about adopting an entirely new framework where the numbers, like CI scores, can be dizzying. Instead of selling gallons, farmers and ethanol producers are now selling carbon reductions via CI scores, and every point of CI reduction matters. 

These are hardworking, tenacious individuals who make up the backbone of rural America, yet they are now facing a future that requires a clear understanding of how their efforts contribute to the broader energy transition. It’s an existential opportunity for U.S. ethanol, especially as ground transportation transitions to greater use of electric vehicles and the energy landscape shifts. What has gotten us here won’t necessarily get us there, and that’s why LanzaJet is committed to working with these farmers as they navigate this change. To be sure, there are critical steps that can be taken on the policy front. For example, updates to EPA’s guidance on current lifecycle assessments are essential to ensure that U.S. ethanol receives the credit it deserves in carbon accounting. By working together to lower CI scores through more sustainable practices and innovative technologies we can ensure that U.S. ethanol remains a powerful contributor to the SAF market and that American ag continues to thrive. 

The opportunity for U.S. ethanol is both local and global. In the U.S., corn ethanol capacity is 17 billion gallons per year, currently supplying a little more than 10% of gasoline demand. This capacity could meet over 50% of U.S. jet fuel demand when converted to SAF. Globally, companies like LanzaJet are building SAF plants across multiple countries, where in some cases those countries don’t have the ability to produce ethanol domestically. U.S. corn ethanol can be used as that feedstock source and qualify within that country’s policy paradigm, even when, ironically enough, it may not qualify in the U.S. today. The aviation industry uses 100 billion gallons of jet fuel per year, and the demand is growing. This presents a significant opportunity for U.S. ethanol, not only here at home, but around the world.

As legislators continue to shape the framework around SAF production, we need to have supportive policy that allows domestic feedstocks to evolve and improve, while at the same time allowing SAF technologies to scale and meet current demand. Getting this balance right is critically important to avoid unintended consequences. The SAF industry is still in its early stages and requires the flexibility to scale production. Limiting the qualification of ethanol would constrain the industry’s ability to meet immediate production goals, potentially stalling the progress being made in the U.S. and globally. 

By allowing a wide range of ethanol sources to qualify, and by thinking about the SAF industry as a global market for ethanol, this industry can gain the momentum it needs to become the solution for reducing aviation emissions while enabling economic development for U.S. agriculture to support a global SAF market. This approach ensures that we can meet current demand while providing U.S. ethanol producers the time to innovate and lower their CI scores. In doing so, we can position American ag to lead in this rapidly growing market. Restricting access to feedstocks at this critical juncture would not only delay progress but could also undermine America’s ability to lead in the global energy transition. Further, imposing a domestic feedstock requirement could prompt similar restrictions in other countries, potentially closing off U.S. export markets when SAF represents a significant opportunity. 

As we step into Labor Day, it’s a reminder that the holiday was instituted to honor the American worker, who at the time was in the thick of building a new industry. We’re doing that now. The opportunity that SAF poses to the United States is huge. It exemplifies the truth that American innovation isn’t about following the same worn path – it’s about forging a new one that ensures our leadership in a cleaner, better future – one that, dare I say, is … ready to take off.