Net zero aviation

“US aviation needs 35 billion gallons of Sustainable Aviation Fuel per year to reach net zero by 2050. Today’s production, 24 million gallons.” – Omid McDonald, CEO DD Biofuel

People love to fly. So much so that aviation is responsible for at least 2% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the majority from burning fossil fuels. With demand set to increase from 4 to 10 billion passengers per year by 2050, at current rates, aviation GHG emissions could increase to 20% of the world’s total.

Accordingly, the aviation industry is under immense pressure to reach net zero GHG emissions by 2050. Unfortunately, many of the proposed solutions like electrification or hydrogen require new planes or infrastructure pushing out the road to net zero aviation by decades.

That’s where Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) comes in.  Made from various organic sources (“feedstocks”), SAF is a “drop in” fuel, meaning it’s compatible with existing aircraft engines. SAF can be blended up to 50% with traditional fossil fuel and retrofitted planes can run on 100% SAF.  Depending on the production technology and feedstock, SAF can cut emissions up to 80%. 

The 24.5 million gallons of SAF consumed in the US in 2023 was mostly made from waste cooking oil and fats using a technology known as HEFA. Nowhere near enough to reach the US SAF Grand Challenge goal of 3 billion gallons, let alone the 35 billion gallons needed for US aviation needs to reach net zero by 2050.

A game changing technology called ETJ (Ethanol to Jet) transforms ethanol into jet fuel and using low carbon ethanol, into SAF.  To meet the 50% carbon footprint reduction needed to qualify as SAF in the US, ETJ plants need low carbon ethanol as an input. Most American ethanol is made from corn. But without carbon sequestration, the carbon footprint of corn ethanol is too high for SAF. So there’s a near unlimited demand for low carbon ethanol for SAF production.

Enter DD Biofuel, a Canadian startup based in Almonte, Ontario has been quietly developing a technology to produce low carbon ethanol sourced from…dairy cows. DD Biofuel’s innovative process transforms a dairy byproduct called permeate – leftover from cheese and yogurt production – into SAF. 

 Find out how DD Biofuel plans to make Sustainable Aviation Fuel from dairy, at a comparable cost to fossil fuel.