Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (KMSP) received its first shipment of locally produced sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) this week, which will be used to power a Delta Air Lines flight tomorrow as the ceremonial first SAF flight to depart the state.
The blended fuel—with its SAF component produced from locally grown winter camelina, a low-carbon-intensity oilseed crop—demonstrated the regional capabilities of biofuel production as championed by the Minnesota SAF Hub.
Farmers in Minnesota and North Dakota planted 2,000 acres of winter camelina, a variety developed by the University of Minnesota. After this summer’s harvest, the seed crop was crushed and processed at Cargill’s facility in Fargo, North Dakota, and then moved to the Montana Renewables plant in Great Falls, where it was refined and blended into SAF. The fuel was then sold to Delta Air Lines—which operates a major hub at KMSP—and transported directly to the airport’s fueling facility.
“The fact that this first flight is fueled with SAF made from camelina, an innovative regenerative agricultural crop grown in Minnesota, is a breakthrough far beyond what we thought possible just six months ago,” said Peter Frosch, president and CEO of the Greater MSP partnership. “This first batch of SAF is a demonstration of how we plan to decarbonize air travel and improve water quality on agricultural lands while providing new income sources for farmers in and around Minnesota.”