The Pacific Northwest has long been a center of aviation innovation.

It is home to Boeing Commercial Airplanes and Alaska Airlines, which is an industry leader in fuel efficiency and reducing emissions. We enjoy innovative metropolitan airports and world-class biofuels research institutions, especially Washington State University and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. WSU’s expertise starts with feedstock development, which is good for our farmers and local economies, and extends through the conversion of these feedstocks into aviation biofuels.

Thus, it should be no surprise the nation’s first stakeholder initiative aimed at developing safe, sustainable and viable aviation fuels to power the next generation of flight – Sustainable Aviation Fuels Northwest – was convened in the Northwest.

SAFN was founded last year by WSU, Boeing, Alaska Airlines, Spokane International Airport and the ports of Seattle and Portland. It includes active participation by more than 40 stakeholders representing aviation, biofuels production, environmental advocacy, agriculture, forestry, federal and state government agencies, academic research and technical consultants and many from the private sector here in Washington. 

SAFN’s diverse partners explored the opportunities and challenges surrounding the production of sustainable aviation fuels and outlined a plan toward a commercially viable, regionally sustainable aviation biofuels industry. Their report was released this week.

First and foremost, SAFN agrees that commercial and military aviation should receive priority attention in policy development and commercial efforts to create a sustainable biofuels industry.

Currently, biomass for energy is overwhelmingly directed to biofuels for ground transportation or to create electricity or heat for industrial, residential and other important and commercially viable uses. However, airplanes will need liquid, high energy-density fuels with the same technical performance as petroleum-based fuels for at least the next 20-30 years. This creates a strategic imperative to produce significant quantities of aviation fuels from available, sustainable biofuels.

Further, while the Northwest has key opportunities to supply a wide range of environmentally sustainable and economically viable aviation-fuel stocks, the supply of biomass feedstocks is limited.  WSU’s research on new feedstock and biomass deployment is critical to developing this supply. As demand for alternative energy grows and sensitivity about critical sustainability issues increases, we will make strategic choices about the best uses for the material. This further underscores the preference for aviation biofuels.

The SAFN study identifies specific actions – from increasing biomass supplies and developing infrastructure to providing financing incentives – that should be taken to create a renewable fuels supply chain that meets the aviation industry’s rigorous fuel and safety standards.

A key finding is that no single feedstock or technology is a magic bullet. Therefore, instead of trying to identify the “best feedstock,” the report recommends a diverse portfolio of options, citing several promising technologies and feedstocks, including oilseeds, forest residues, industrial and municipal solid wastes and algae. All together, these promising feedstocks can build the supply needed to grow a commercial-scale, regional industry.  WSU’s experience in supplying the new technologies and research that has underpinned Washington state’s production of over 300 commodity crops is a critical asset in developing this new industry.

Clearly Eastern Washington will be an active participant in – and beneficiary of – the development of a new regional industry which will drive creation of more jobs in agriculture, forestry, processing and transportation sectors. A 2009 study of the U.S. biodiesel industry indicated that production of 475 million gallons of biodiesel resulted in nearly 23,000 jobs, $4.1 billion in added gross domestic product growth, $445 million in federal tax revenues and $383 million to state and local governments. Demand in the Pacific Northwest for commercial and military jet fuel today exceeds 800 million gallons.

A sustainable, aviation biofuels industry will not evolve without a focused and collaborative effort. Many parties will need to be at the table, including federal, state and local governments, industry associations, universities and industries including aviation, fuels, agriculture and forestry.

The effort will require policy support, business entrepreneurship, innovation and the full deployment of scientific and technology research and development assets. These elements will need to be coordinated to accelerate development of integrated supply chains. This translates into the need for widespread regional collaboration and a unified regional voice advocating for appropriate policies and public support to allow the project to come to fruition.

The payback will be a new regional industry that strengthens traditional economic sectors from farming and forestry to aerospace, creates new companies and jobs, and places the long-term future of aviation on an environmentally sound basis.  

The time to start is now.