First-Ever Sustainable Aviation Fuel Reaches Detroit Metropolitan Airport

Montana Renewables (MRL) and Delta Air Lines have introduced the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in Michigan as a 7,000+-gal shipment of SAF has been transported to the Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW), the companies said in a Thursday release.

“Supplying the SAF [to the Detroit Metropolitan Airport] marks another significant milestone in the decarbonization of air travel,” said MRL Chief Executive Bruce Fleming.

MRL refined and blended Minnesota and North Dakota-grown winter camelina into SAF after receiving the feedstock from Cargill. MRL subsequently sold the SAF directly to Delta Air Lines, and the airline fuel then arrived to DTW via pipeline from Dearborn, Michigan’s Buckeye Pipeline facility.

“We are especially pleased to pioneer camelina oil as a non-food renewable that provides additional cash crop potential for farmers,” Fleming said.

MRL — an unrestricted subsidiary of Calumet and renewable fuels company headquartered in Great Falls, Montana — is currently the largest SAF producer in North America, the company said. SAF can reduce lifecycle carbon emissions of jet fuel by more than 80% compared to conventional jet fuel, according to the International Air Transport Association.

In September, the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport also received its first 7,000-gallon shipment of camelina-feedstock SAF to be used for Delta Air Lines’ commercial flights.

Reporting by Maura Hossler, mhossler@opisnet.com
Editing by Jordan Godwin, jgodwin@opisnet.com

© 2024 Oil Price Information Service, LLC. All rights reserved.