NBAA joins call to prioritize FY24 funding for key aviation sustainability programs

The National Business Aviation Association joined with more than 35 aviation and biofuel industry stakeholders in calling for leaders of the U.S. House and Senate Appropriations Committees to prioritize funding in the fiscal year 2024 federal budget for key federal programs working to accelerate the development and deployment of sustainable aviation fuel. 

The U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Technologies Office and FAA NextGen Environmental Research programs are both vital toward increasing SAF production and making it more widely available to aviation users, noted the letter to House Appropriations Committee Chair Rep. Kay Granger (R-12-TX) and Ranking Member Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-3-CT), and Senate Appropriations Chair Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Vice Chair Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME). 

“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,” the coalition letter stated. “With this foundation of support, the emerging SAF industry will also create jobs and provide new economic opportunities in rural communities across America.” 

Read the full coalition letter. 

Part of the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, BETO supports RD&D to enable the sustainable use of domestic biomass and waste resources for the production of biofuels and bioproducts. BETO grants have helped make biofuels more affordable, the letter noted, utilizing a diverse array of feedstocks including municipal solid waste, agriculture residues and carbon dioxide. The coalition requested full funding of the office at $323 million. 

The letter further requested $70.8 million for the FAA’s NextGen Environmental Research programs that are similarly working to scale up and deploy SAF and other aviation technologies to reduce aviation emissions. 

These programs include Continuous Lower Energy, Emissions, and Noise (CLEEN), a cost-sharing initiative for companies to demonstrate SAF and emissions- and noise-reduction aircraft technologies, and the Aviation Sustainability Center (ASCENT), a cooperative aviation research program led by Washington State University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology whose work helps mitigate obstacles to scaling up SAF production. 

“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,” the letter concluded. “These investments will foster innovation, create jobs and make the United States a leader in this emerging industry.”