The Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Grand Challenge is a U.S. government-wide approach to work with industry to reduce cost, enhance sustainability, and expand production of sustainable aviation fuel. The goals of the SAF Grand Challenge are to (a) achieve production of 3 billion gallons per year of domestic sustainable aviation fuel with a minimum 50% reduction in life cycle greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) compared to conventional fuel by 2030, and (b) produce sufficient sustainable aviation jet fuel to meet 100% of projected jet fuel use, or 35 billion gallons of annual domestic production, by 2050. An interagency team led by the Department of Energy (DOE), the Department of Transportation (DOT), and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) worked with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); other government agencies; stakeholders from National Laboratories, universities, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs); and the aviation, agricultural, and energy industries to develop a SAF Grand Challenge Roadmap. This roadmap outlines a whole-of-government approach, with coordinated policies and specific activities, that should be undertaken by federal agencies to support achievement of both the 2030 and 2050 SAF Grand Challenge goals.
A key action area in the SAF Grand Challenge Roadmap is building supply chains to meet the SAF Grand Challenge goals. The purpose of this RFI is to engage with stakeholders on the “Building Supply Chains” action area of the SAF Grand Challenge, understand the challenges facing critical elements within the SAF supply chain, and to identify opportunities to enable the rapid development of effective supply chains capable of meeting future SAF demand.
Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to SAFSupplyChainRFI@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00pm (ET) on November 2, 2023.