Sustainable aviation fuel plant promoted Shutterstock Photo State of Alaska officials are studying the feasibility of a sustainable aviation fuel plant that could be built at or near an existing Marathon Petroleum refinery on the Kenai Peninsula.
The state owns and operates in - ternational airports in the state and is investigating an SAF fuels plant that could meet air carriers’ growing de - mand for the fuels. Atlas Air, one of the world’s largest air cargo operators, and Alaska Airlines, a major West Coast regional airline and also the state’s largest passenger carrier, are support - ing the state’s effort to make SAF for blending with conventional jet fuel. Katherine Keith, deputy com - missioner at the state DOTPF who oversees airports, is leading the ini - tial feasibility assessments. The goal is for a plant to produce 150 million gallons per year of sustainable fuel, which is one-sixth of the current jet fuel demand in Anchorage, along
with 80 million to 95 million gallons of Renewable Diesel and Renewable Naphtha. The plan has the backing of Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy who has a strong interest in renewable energy. Keith said six other airlines, most - ly cargo operators, have written let - ters to the state supporting the idea. Initial studies show costs for SAF would be less than what the fuel costs elsewhere because of a huge amount of biomass that is available. Organic material like fish oil or forest biomass could be converted to fuel at costs low enough to offset the capital cost of building an SAF plant, which could range from to $1 billion and $3 billion depending on the technology selected, Keith said.
State eyes options to support busy cargo operations State of Alaska officials are pro - moting a Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) plant to supply cargo air carriers operating in and out of Anchorage’s international airport, now the world’s fourth-busiest air freight hub. Cargo carriers mainly on Asia- North America flights use Anchor - age as a midway refueling and cargo transfer point. About 900 million gal - lons of jet fuel are loaded there at Ted Stevens International Airport.
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