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Released May 09, 2025 | SUGAR LAND
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Written by Paul Wiseman for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The addition of a few sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plants in 2024 and 2025 has boosted that fuel's production by more than 10 times, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Because those plants also produce other biofuels, including renewable diesel, total biofuels production has doubled in that period.
EIA data show that 2024 began with only two plants with a total capacity of 2,000 barrels per day (BBL/d) of SAF.
Then, at the end of May 2024, Phillips 66's (NYSE:PSX) (Houston, Texas) 340 million gallon-per-year plant in Rodeo, California, began producing 10,000 BBL/d of SAF. Also, on November 30, 2024, Diamond Green Diesel (Norco, Louisiana) opened the spigot at its 15,000-BBL/d SAF project in Port Arthur, Texas. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Alternative Fuels Plant Database can click here for the plant profiles.
More biofuel projects are in the pipeline. IIR data show a new unit, Renewable Diesel Number 2 at the Hastings Renewable Diesel in Nebraska with an expected May 2025 start date. Its capacity will be 40 million gallons per year. The owner is Heartwell Renewables (Hastings, Nebraska). And expected in late May is an SAF unit at Twelve Benefit Corporation's (Berkely, California) Moses Lake SAF facility in Grant, Washington, producing a yet-undetermined amount of fuel. Also, Par Hawaii Refining's (Kapolei, Hawaii) Par East Refinery in Honolulu is looking to start producing renewable diesel and SAF in September 2025, with a total capacity of 61 million gallons per year between the two fuels. Subscribers can click here for the plant profiles.
One plant is switching from renewable diesel to SAF. The EIA said New Rise Renewables (Reno, Nevada) announced it began SAF production in February at its Reno plant, adding up to 3,000 BBL/d of SAF production. Subscribers can click here for the plant profile.
For all renewable fuels (Industrial Info does not track SAF separately), Industrial Info shows renewable fuels production increasing by 91,773 BBL/d between January 2024 and December 2025.
It is noteworthy that, while the growth percentages are large, the total volumes are still small. Even with new plants online, SAF still accounts for only about 2% of jet fuel used, said the EIA.
Click on the image at right for tables showing IIR-tracked completed and upcoming renewable diesel/SAF capacity.
What is SAF and why is it suddenly growing? An alternative to petroleum-based jet fuel, SAF is refined from agricultural and waste product, then blended with petroleum jet fuel. The EIA pointed out that the burst in production is fueled at least in part by the EPA's Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), along with federal tax credits and state programs that also include tax credits rewarding the use of renewable fuels as a whole, including SAF.
The future of SAF, as with most renewables, faces both obstacles and opportunities, said Jonathan Seeley at the Energy Transition and Decarbonization Symposium in Houston on Monday. Seeley is treasurer at XCF Global Capital (San Francisco, California), which is strongly involved in SAF production worldwide.
Another common renewable energy theme is financing for new projects--which depend on investors feeling certain that the project they're investing in will pay off. SAF is certainly dealing with that, Seeley noted. "Project finance in SAF is tough right now. You need long-term credit-worthy off takers. You want cash flow certainty. You want regulatory certainty. There's an element in what we're doing of a commodity risk that banks don't necessarily like in project finance because SAF is a relatively new product," and therefore its growth opportunities are yet to be determined.
A shortage of cohesive government incentives is a key deterrent to financing options in the U.S., Seeley said. Europe, on the other hand, has begun requiring at least 2% SAF in aircraft. That percentage steps up with each succeeding year, reaching 70%, he believes, by 2035.
It's not that the U.S. has no goals. Seeley pointed out that they are a long way from being met, most likely because of the shortage of incentives. He said, "(In the U.S.), however, we have set a goal of 3 billion gallons of SAF produced in the U.S. by 2030. We are not anywhere near that. We had less than 1 billion produced last year."
Texas is one place where SAF is being promoted by the government. In January, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that Summit Next Gen LLC's proposed $1.6 billion ethanol-to-sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) project near Houston had qualified for the state's Texas Jobs, Energy, Technology and Innovation (JETI) program. Subscribers can click here for the project report and here for the plant profile.
The JETI program offers companies a 10-year limitation on school district tax appraisal values. The limit can reach 75% for projects in what are known as Opportunity Zones, depending on job creation and capital investment.
Subscribers can click here for all the plant profiles mentioned in this article.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
EIA data show that 2024 began with only two plants with a total capacity of 2,000 barrels per day (BBL/d) of SAF.
Then, at the end of May 2024, Phillips 66's (NYSE:PSX) (Houston, Texas) 340 million gallon-per-year plant in Rodeo, California, began producing 10,000 BBL/d of SAF. Also, on November 30, 2024, Diamond Green Diesel (Norco, Louisiana) opened the spigot at its 15,000-BBL/d SAF project in Port Arthur, Texas. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Alternative Fuels Plant Database can click here for the plant profiles.
More biofuel projects are in the pipeline. IIR data show a new unit, Renewable Diesel Number 2 at the Hastings Renewable Diesel in Nebraska with an expected May 2025 start date. Its capacity will be 40 million gallons per year. The owner is Heartwell Renewables (Hastings, Nebraska). And expected in late May is an SAF unit at Twelve Benefit Corporation's (Berkely, California) Moses Lake SAF facility in Grant, Washington, producing a yet-undetermined amount of fuel. Also, Par Hawaii Refining's (Kapolei, Hawaii) Par East Refinery in Honolulu is looking to start producing renewable diesel and SAF in September 2025, with a total capacity of 61 million gallons per year between the two fuels. Subscribers can click here for the plant profiles.
One plant is switching from renewable diesel to SAF. The EIA said New Rise Renewables (Reno, Nevada) announced it began SAF production in February at its Reno plant, adding up to 3,000 BBL/d of SAF production. Subscribers can click here for the plant profile.
For all renewable fuels (Industrial Info does not track SAF separately), Industrial Info shows renewable fuels production increasing by 91,773 BBL/d between January 2024 and December 2025.
It is noteworthy that, while the growth percentages are large, the total volumes are still small. Even with new plants online, SAF still accounts for only about 2% of jet fuel used, said the EIA.
What is SAF and why is it suddenly growing? An alternative to petroleum-based jet fuel, SAF is refined from agricultural and waste product, then blended with petroleum jet fuel. The EIA pointed out that the burst in production is fueled at least in part by the EPA's Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), along with federal tax credits and state programs that also include tax credits rewarding the use of renewable fuels as a whole, including SAF.
The future of SAF, as with most renewables, faces both obstacles and opportunities, said Jonathan Seeley at the Energy Transition and Decarbonization Symposium in Houston on Monday. Seeley is treasurer at XCF Global Capital (San Francisco, California), which is strongly involved in SAF production worldwide.
Another common renewable energy theme is financing for new projects--which depend on investors feeling certain that the project they're investing in will pay off. SAF is certainly dealing with that, Seeley noted. "Project finance in SAF is tough right now. You need long-term credit-worthy off takers. You want cash flow certainty. You want regulatory certainty. There's an element in what we're doing of a commodity risk that banks don't necessarily like in project finance because SAF is a relatively new product," and therefore its growth opportunities are yet to be determined.
A shortage of cohesive government incentives is a key deterrent to financing options in the U.S., Seeley said. Europe, on the other hand, has begun requiring at least 2% SAF in aircraft. That percentage steps up with each succeeding year, reaching 70%, he believes, by 2035.
It's not that the U.S. has no goals. Seeley pointed out that they are a long way from being met, most likely because of the shortage of incentives. He said, "(In the U.S.), however, we have set a goal of 3 billion gallons of SAF produced in the U.S. by 2030. We are not anywhere near that. We had less than 1 billion produced last year."
Texas is one place where SAF is being promoted by the government. In January, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that Summit Next Gen LLC's proposed $1.6 billion ethanol-to-sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) project near Houston had qualified for the state's Texas Jobs, Energy, Technology and Innovation (JETI) program. Subscribers can click here for the project report and here for the plant profile.
The JETI program offers companies a 10-year limitation on school district tax appraisal values. The limit can reach 75% for projects in what are known as Opportunity Zones, depending on job creation and capital investment.
Subscribers can click here for all the plant profiles mentioned in this article.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
