Photo courtesy: Port of Seattle.
People love to fly, and because of that, aviation is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions from transportation — and one of the most challenging categories of emissions to reduce.
A commercial jet will burn hundreds or even thousands of gallons of fuel every hour. At the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, more than a thousand of those jets take off and land every day.
And while battery-powered planes are in development to meet some applications, we also need to look at other fuel options for long-distance flights. This makes developing more sustainable forms of jet fuel critical if we want to reduce carbon pollution and impacts to Washington from climate change.
The good news is that alternative aviation fuels are being developed — and much of that work is happening right here in Washington state.
Alternative aviation fuels — often known as sustainable aviation fuels or SAF — are having a bit of a moment in Washington. In last week’s State of the State address, Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson gave a shout-out to the innovation happening in our state. Gov. Ferguson called the effort “an opportunity for our state to once again set an example, and set the pace, for clean energy investment.”
Earlier this month, Ecology Director Casey Sixkiller joined Gov. Ferguson, local leaders, and officials from Boeing, Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines at Everett’s Paine Field for the launch of the Cascadia Sustainable Aviation Accelerator.
“The future of air travel will be fueled by the eco-friendly jet fuels developed here in Washington state – creating jobs, improving air quality, and strengthening our global leadership in aerospace,” Sixkiller said.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the state, alternative aviation fuel developer SkyNRG saw important progress toward constructing its proposed plant at the Port of Walla Walla.
More sustainable skies
The goal for alternative aviation fuels is to reduce their carbon footprint by using renewable feedstocks, or new technological approaches.
That can mean starting with feedstocks like crop seed oil or agricultural or forestry waste. Just like low-carbon fuels like biodiesel and ethanol, using sustainable feedstocks reduces the fuel’s carbon footprint, and can also reduce other types of air pollution.
The goal is for these cleaner fuels is to be a drop-in replacement for traditional jet fuel — performing to the same standards and delivering the same safety and efficiency.
A sustainable fuels hub
The technology to power cleaner fuels is already being built around Washington.
In Walla Walla, the Dutch company SkyNRG recently completed an environmental review led by Ecology to build a sustainable fuel plant, with a goal of breaking ground in 2027 or 2028.
SkyNRG’s proposed plant will turn renewable natural gas, captured from landfills, farms and wastewater systems, into jet fuel.
By communicating with Ecology, local agencies and potentially affected Tribes early and often, SkyNRG was able to successfully complete the environmental review phase led by Ecology and get approval from Walla Walla County. SkyNRG is now moving into engineering phase and is on track for operations to start by 2030.
“The Department of Ecology’s environmental review and Walla Walla County’s approval demonstrate our commitment to building this facility the right way – using industry-leading technology and conducting robust analysis of environmental impacts,” said Chief Executive Officer of SkyNRG Americas John Plaza. “This milestone allows SkyNRG to continue delivering clean fuel to major airports, building economic opportunity in Eastern Washington, and protecting natural resources and community health for years to come.”
Another firm, Twelve, plans to use a different technology to produce sustainable aviation fuels at a plant in Moses Lake.
Ecology is supporting this type of innovation while protecting people and the environment by developing what’s called a “programmatic” environmental impact statement for sustainable aviation fuels. That “PEIS” is essentially a high level evaluation of potential impacts that local and state permitting authorities can pull from as they review individual projects. The goal is to create a common knowledge base in order to streamline environmental reviews and permitting.
Ecology has already completed similar documents for onshore wind and solar projects.
Clean energy — everywhere
Sustainable aviation fuels are just one example of how Washington is pursuing cleaner fuels — and cleaner energy.
A recent report from Ecology found that Washington’s Clean Fuel Standard — which requires automotive fuel producers to gradually decrease the carbon intensity of their fuels — is actually ahead of schedule, reducing the carbon emissions from fuels by about 2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, at a cost of less than 1 cent a gallon.
Meanwhile, Washington utilities are working to meet the Clean Energy Transformation Act requirements for electricity consumed in our state to be largely carbon neutral by 2030, and to come 100% from non-emitting sources by 2045.
Wind and solar power in Washington doubled from 2019 to 2023, exceeding coal power and nearly matching natural gas.
Washington is also a leader in switching to zero emission vehicles. More than 270,000 electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles are now on the road in Washington. Those clean vehicles reduce the amount of gasoline burned in our state by more than 115 million gallons a year.
That reduces total emissions in our state by more than a million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent a year.
Cleaner cars. Cleaner fuels. Cleaner power. Cleaner planes. Little by little, Washington is moving the needle toward a clean energy economy.