Meeting the challenge of setting up a successful sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) economy in Minnesota. 

Aviation currently accounts for two-to-three percent of global carbon emissions, and that percentage is projected to increase as other industries decarbonize. The most viable decarbonization option available for aviation today (and for the next decades) is sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). 

SAF has the potential to reduce carbon lifecycle emissions of jet fuel by more than 80 percent. Globally, there is a huge demand for SAF but minimal supply. Places that succeed in scaling up demand will create economic opportunity in addition to decarbonizing aviation. 

This is the opportunity pursued by the Minnesota SAF Hub. 

The effort began in 2023 when Delta Air Lines approached GREATER MSP (the Minneapolis St. Paul Regional Economic Development Partnership) with a challenge: Could the organization muster the partners and the resources needed to make a high-volume SAF production value chain serve their second-largest hub – the MSP Airport – a reality? 

Minnesota has everything needed to create a new SAF industry. That includes a strong and diverse agricultural economy, cutting-edge research, supportive policy environment, strategic infrastructure, and a history of cross-sector collaboration. 

Still, meeting a goal of producing 100 million gallons of SAF by 2035 is a daunting task with many lessons being learned along the way. To date, those lessons have included: 

Global thinking 

GREATER MSP estimates a SAF industry in Minnesota will create 40,000 new jobs and over $20 billion of investment. While the local economic impact is significant, realizing the potential requires engaging with partners around the world. The expertise in fuels, capital, carbon accounting, and other critical elements of the overall SAF challenge is distributed globally. Leaders of the Minnesota SAF Hub are recruiting both private sector and government partners across North America, Europe and Asia. Today, they are working to draw in knowledge and capital with a view to potentially exporting SAF via ports in the Great Lakes in the years ahead. 

Consider all options 

Minnesota has an incredible range of feedstocks to support SAF production including agricultural waste, forestry residuals, corn, soy, novel cover crops, CO2, and soon green hydrogen. In a field like SAF, where there are multiple technical solutions, all developing rapidly, this flexibility is critical to support the broad ecosystem of start-ups, potential off-takers, established producers, and logistics providers to scale up. The diversity, proximity and significant volumes of SAF inputs in Minnesota reduce risk, increase resilience and ensure carbon reduction can far exceed the minimum 50 percent reduction to qualify as SAF. 

Partnerships require win-win thinking 

Self-interest is important to every partnership. In this effort, partners, from state and local governments to nonprofits, trade groups and businesses, advance their own strategic interests through their participation in the Minnesota SAF Hub, ensuring long-term participation and keeping the partnership together through challenges. 

Expect challenges

Significant change does not come easily. But we choose to embark on big efforts like shifting the airline industry to SAF as former President John F. Kenndy said, “not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” Minnesota has built its economy over the past century and a half by long-term innovation and tackling global challenges; where others see challenges, we see a fit for our unique strengths. 

Collaboration is essential 

A successful SAF ecosystem requires stakeholders from various sectors, including agriculture, energy, finance, academia, and government. The Minnesota SAF Hub is a coalition that includes Delta Air Lines, Bank of America, Ecolab, Cargill, Xcel Energy and dozens more. The Hub is facilitating the development of a supply chain that connects feedstock production, refining, blending, and distribution to the Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport. This focused, unified approach is resulting in tangible progress at a rapid pace. 

Attracting supply 

To create the demand that will drive supply, the Minnesota SAF Hub established an innovative consortium comprised of Delta Air Lines, Bank of America, Deloitte and Ecolab. Each of these corporations has committed to collectively purchase the first several million gallons of SAF. These commitments will provide verified carbon emission reductions to employee business travel and secure demand that spurs continued growth of the SAF market. 

Innovative feedstocks 

Winter camelina, a regenerative oilseed crop being developed by the University of Minnesota and Cargill, has shown promise as a sustainable feedstock for SAF. In September 2024, the Minnesota SAF Hub celebrated the first flight to leave MSP Airport with SAF. That Delta flight flew with SAF made from winter camelina, demonstrating the potential of this regenerative crop to both improve water quality across the Upper Midwest while reducing carbon emissions from air travel by over 75 percent. Work is now underway to scale winter camelina from roughly 10,000 acres today, to over one million acres by the end of the decade. Doing this will require building farmer confidence, enhancing agronomics and establishing new supply chains. 

Scaling production 

Developing SAF production facilities entails significant financial investment and extended timelines. Last fall, DG Fuels announced the selection of a site in Moorhead, Minnesota, for a roughly $5 billion facility that would produce 193 million gallons per year of SAF. Production is expected to begin in 2030, which exemplifies the scale and commitment required. 

In closing, a coordinated, multi-sector approach is necessary to develop a robust SAF industry. By fostering collaboration, creating demand, and navigating supply chain challenges, the Minnesota SAF Hub is on the leading edge of a global important industry.  

By Peter Frosch 

www.greatermsp.org 

Peter Frosch is President and Chief Executive Officer of the GREATER MSP Partnership, the regional economic development partnership for the 15-county Minneapolis-Saint Paul region. Before joining GREATER MSP, Frosch served as Legislative Director for Congresswoman Betty McCollum in Washington, D.C., and as Director of Environmental Policy at Environmental Initiative, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit.