On the Origin of Specious

Founded in 1947 and based in Washington, DC, the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the collection, interpretation, and dissemination of operational and managerial data germane to the safe, efficient, and cost-effective utilization of business aircraft. The association’s stated mission is “to foster an environment that allows business aviation to thrive in the United States and around the world.”

On 15 May 2023, the NBAA joined upwards of 35 aviation and biofuel industry stakeholders in prevailing upon the U.S. House and Senate Appropriations Committees to prioritize fiscal year 2024 funding for federal programs germane to accelerating the development and deployment of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF).

In its letter to House Appropriations Committee Chair Representative Kay Granger (Republican, Texas) and Ranking Member Representative Rosa DeLauro (Democrat, Connecticut); and Senate Appropriations Chair Senator Patty Murray (Democrat, Washington State) and Vice Chair Senator Susan Collins (Republican, Maine), the coalition letter set forth the U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) NextGen Environmental Research programs are similarly salient to the enterprise of increasing SAF production and making the stuff more widely available to aviation users.

The letter continues: “Continued federal investments in research, development and demonstration (RD&D) are essential to lower costs; unlock new, cleaner ways of making these fuels; and to foster a competitive SAF market. With this foundation of support, the emerging SAF industry will also create jobs and provide new economic opportunities in rural communities across America.”

A subsidiary of the U.S. Department Of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, BETO supports RD&D for purpose of enabling sustainable use of domestic biomass and waste resources for the production of biofuels and bioproducts. BETO grants have helped make biofuels—which are currently synthesized from an array of feedstocks including municipal solid waste, agriculture residues, and carbon dioxide—more affordable. Nevertheless, such fuels continue to command costs as much as five-times those of conventional petroleum jet fuels.

In addition to requesting $323-million with which to fully fund BETO, the coalition letter petitioned the D.C. Appropriations Committees for $70.8-million by which to sustain the FAA’s NextGen Environmental Research programs—which are also working to scale up and deploy SAF and other aviation technologies conducive to the reduction of aviation emissions. Subject programs include Continuous Lower Energy, Emissions, and Noise (CLEEN), a cost-sharing initiative intended to compel companies to demonstrate SAF, emissions, and noise-reduction aircraft technologies; and the Aviation Sustainability Center (ASCENT), a cooperative aviation research program headed by Washington State University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology—the work of which ostensibly helps mitigate obstacles to scaling up SAF production.

The coalition letter concluded: “As you begin crafting the Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations bills, we urge you to prioritize funding for these programs to help support the growing SAF market in the United States. These investments will foster innovation, create jobs and make the United States a leader in this emerging industry.”

FMI: www.nbaa.org