Story ID: 
Biden Doubles Down on SAF Support
By: Curt Epstein
Caption: President Biden has reaffirmed his commitment to sustainable aviation and sustainable aviation fuel in remarks yesterday at an Iowa biofuel plant.
Word Count: 309
The White House has reaffirmed its commitment to sustainable aviation. Speaking yesterday at a biofuel processing facility in Iowa, President Biden noted the role fuels such as sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) will play in helping reach the environmental targets his administration has put forward.

“I’ve set a goal of zero-carbon for the aviation sector, for example, by 2050,” Biden said, adding the growing renewable fuels industry will create numerous jobs in feedstock-producing locations such as Iowa. “It’s going to require billions of gallons of sustainable aviation fuel, and you simply can’t get to net-zero by 2050 without biofuels.”

The messaging yesterday builds on the Biden administration’s previously announced support of the industry, which includes the SAF Grand Challenge that tasked U.S. industry to produce three billion gallons of SAF a year by 2030 and pledged billions of dollars in R&D funding to help meet that goal. Additionally, Biden supports a blender’s tax credit to further incentivize the development and investment of SAF production infrastructure.

Biden noted the measure has brought together governments, agencies, aircraft manufacturers, airlines, fuel producers, and airports “to advance cleaner and more sustainable fuels for American aviation.” 

“President Biden’s remarks validate our efforts and confirm the collective voice of the industry is being heard at the highest levels,” said NATA president and CEO Tim Obitts in response, thanking the administration for its dedication. He called on Congress to swiftly pass the legislation enabling the blenders tax credit, which Obitts described as the next step in providing much-needed SAF to the industry.

NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen echoed those comments, adding, "The general aviation community is committed to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, but to get there we need to incentivize the increased production, availability, and use of SAF."