The
The deadline to submit an application is
FAST-SAF:
- SAF Production, including upgrading of existing fuel/diesel/ethanol facilities to produce SAF;
- SAF Transportation, including barriers and opportunities for SAF delivery, transportation infrastructure, pipelines, and cost/carbon intensity of transportation;
- SAF Blending, including identifying blending sites, facility design characteristics, and establishing blending facilities; and
- SAF Storage, including enabling SAF storage for neat and pre-blending SAF, and ensuring testing capabilities at storage facilities.
What qualifies as SAF under the FAST-SAF program? The eligibility requirements for SAF are complex, and depend on the precise nature of an applicant's process, feedstocks, and final chemical composition. Potential applications should consult an advisor experienced in the IRA and relevant ASTM standards to determine if their SAF is or can be made eligible for this program. The program's definition of SAF is similar to the IRA SAF definition. Under the program definition, eligible SAF includes hydrocarbon fuels that meet the requirements of ASTM D7566 or the co-processing provisions of ASTM D1655, Annex A1. Those are the technical standards that ensure that SAF blends are capable of being used as a drop-in aviation fuel. SAF must be derived from biomass, waste streams, renewable energy, or gaseous carbon oxides, and may not be derived from palm fatty acid distillates. And importantly, qualifying SAF also must achieve an at least 50% reduction in lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions compared with petroleum-derived jet fuel as determined by using a methodology similar to the one adopted by the
Two tiers of FAST-SAF grants are being awarded under this program Tier 1 grants are smaller awards focused on regional supply chains, where Tier 2 grants are larger awards for infrastructure projects to facilitate and scale fuel production, transportation, blending, and storage.
Low-Emission Aviation Technology Development , focused on projects with near-term impact on emissions from future engine and aircraft designs; and- Enhanced Test/Demonstration Capability, focused on the development of testing and demonstration capabilities to understand and mature low-emission aviation technologies.
Under the program guidelines, low-emissions technology is defined as technologies produced in the US that significantly improve aircraft fuel efficiency, increase utilization of sustainable aviation fuel, or reduce greenhouse gas emissions produced during operation of civil aircraft.
Eligibility and Evaluation Criteria:
For both portions of the program, eligible applicants include state and local governments, airports, air carriers, academic and research institutions, other aviation industry businesses, and nonprofits. Federally funded R&D centers (FFRDCs) and foreign entities are eligible, though projects must be located in the US. Projects must be ready to begin work by
Applications are reviewed based on the following statutory criteria (in descending order of importance):
- The capacity for eligible entity to increase the domestic production and deployment of sustainable aviation fuel or the use of low-emission aviation technologies among
the United States commercial aviation and aerospace industry; - The projected greenhouse gas emissions from such project, including emissions resulting from the development of the project, and the potential the project has to reduce or displace, on a lifecycle basis,
United States greenhouse gas emissions associated with air travel; - For projects related to the production of sustainable aviation fuel, the projected lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions benefits from the proposed project, which shall include feedstock and fuel production and potential direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions (including resulting from changes in land use) (SAF production projects only);
- The capacity to create new jobs and develop supply chain partnerships in
the United States ; and - The soundness of the technical work plan.
Intellectual Property:
Documentation related to the program indicates that intellectual property rights will be discussed with each applicant pre-award, and generally states the following: The
Applicants will want to ensure that ownership rights to any intellectual property developed as a result of this grant funding are discussed with the
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
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