Aviation accounts for nearly 10% of greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector in the United States. With emissions from aircraft on the rise, federal and state governments are urgently seeking ways to reduce aviation industry emissions through low-carbon fuel pathways that can benefit communities, mitigate climate impacts, and drive business development.
The choices made now about Minnesota’s sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) marketplace will have an impact for decades to come.
Benefits
The wide-scale adoption of lower-carbon fuel in the hard-to-electrify aviation industry would:
Significantly cut greenhouse gases the transportation sector, our state’s largest source of emissions.
Bolster our state’s rural economies and provide additional revenue streams for farmers.
Improve water and air quality, resulting in significant benefits for people, the environment, and Minnesota climate goals.
How we can get it right
Friends of the Mississippi River, Fresh Energy, and TNC co-created these Guiding Principles in July 2024 to serve as a catalyst for conversation about sustainability and equity considerations in the development of sustainable aviation fuel in Minnesota.
They include:
- Ensuring cropland emissions assumptions and reduction goals are rooted in science.
- Defining “sustainable” to include air, water, biodiversity, and clean energy — not just a carbon intensity score.
- Prioritizing and investing in sustainable aviation fuels that lean into regenerative agriculture including an emphasis on significantly lower-carbon, innovative feedstocks such as winter oilseeds, which also have huge benefits for water quality and biodiversity.
- Leveraging SAF’s role in the energy transition to bolster rural communities while addressing the persistent environmental, economic and racial injustice and inequity in our agriculture and energy systems.
