Sustainable Aviation Fuel Targeted Opportunity Region – Great Lakes Region

This policy brief by RMI examines the potential for the Great Lakes region of the United States to become a globally competitive hub for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). It analyzes the region's strengths in feedstock availability, existing ethanol infrastructure, and logistics, while identifying a significant gap in coordinated state-level industrial policy to support the SAF value chain.

• The Great Lakes region, comprising Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, possesses the industrial networks and feedstock availability to support the entire SAF value chain, though it currently lacks a coordinated regional approach to address supply and demand challenges.
• The region has a strong foundation in biofuel production, with the Great Lakes accounting for more than 35% of US ethanol production capacity, and Illinois alone contributing over 10%.
• Existing infrastructure and logistics in the region can be leveraged to reduce the capital intensity of SAF deployment. This includes the ethanol supply chain, the St. Lawrence Seaway, the Mississippi River system, and major ports in Duluth, Minnesota, and Toledo, Ohio, which have grain elevators for biomass feedstock.
• O'Hare International Airport in Illinois represents a major demand center where local feedstocks could potentially replace up to 55% of conventional jet fuel with SAF, reducing carbon emissions by 86% compared to Jet A fuel.
• The region is home to several innovation and research hubs, including the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC), established in 2007 with a $125 million grant, and various USDA-funded Coordinated Agricultural Projects (CAPs) spanning multiple states.
• Specific industrial projects are underway, such as the Centerpoint refinery in Gary, Indiana, by Fulcrum Bioenergy, which aims to produce 31 million gallons of SAF annually from municipal waste by 2026, involving an estimated $800 million investment.
• Current policy support in the region is fragmented. While the federal Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) provides incentives, state-level efforts vary; Illinois has implemented a Sustainable Aviation Fuel purchasers’ credit (SAFPC) providing $1.50 per gallon from July 2023 to December 2032.
• Significant barriers to SAF scaling include a price premium where SAF costs are two to four times higher than traditional fossil jet fuel, as well as the 'food versus fuel' dilemma regarding the use of arable land for biofuel crops.

APA

RMI (2023). Sustainable Aviation Fuel Targeted Opportunity Region – Great Lakes Region. https://rmi.org/resources/sustainable-aviation-fuel-targeted-opportunity-region-great-lakes-region/

Chicago

RMI. Sustainable Aviation Fuel Targeted Opportunity Region – Great Lakes Region. 2023. https://rmi.org/resources/sustainable-aviation-fuel-targeted-opportunity-region-great-lakes-region/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Sustainable Aviation Fuel Targeted Opportunity Region – Great Lakes Region |date=26 September 2023 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/sustainable-aviation-fuel-targeted-opportunity-region-great-lakes-region/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2023sustainable, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Sustainable Aviation Fuel Targeted Opportunity Region – Great Lakes Region}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2023}, month = sep, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/sustainable-aviation-fuel-targeted-opportunity-region-great-lakes-region/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }