The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced on May 23, 2024, that it released a Summary Report from a September 2023 Request for Information (RFI) on building supply chains to meet Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Grand Challenge goals. The RFI requested input from industry, academia, national laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders to identify opportunities for developing effective supply chains capable of meeting the SAF Grand Challenge goals of supplying sufficient SAF to meet all U.S. aviation fuel demand by 2050 and achieving at least a 50 percent reduction in life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to conventional fuel. According to BETO, the RFI collected feedback from stakeholders resulting in multiple key takeaways, and their recommendations and perspectives are critical for understanding industry perspectives and needs as it works toward a more sustainable future for the aviation sector. BETO categorized the responses by:

• Accelerating success of regional SAF supply chain coalitions;
• Modeling and simulation tools for enabling the SAF supply chain;
• Critical gaps in the demonstration and SAF supply chain elements;
• Scaling and commercial build-out of SAF supply chain elements; and
• Understanding the government’s role in informing stakeholders.

BETO notes that the RFI “underscored the importance of both federal and state policies and collaborative actions by stakeholders to drive progress of SAF supply chains.”