bp America's Cherry Point Refinery in Blaine in Washington State will receive a federal grant of $26,763,504 to build infrastructure and buy equipment to allow it to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for the first time, using renewable biomass feedstocks.
bp estimates being able to produce 10 million gallons of SAF per year.
The large federal grant was awarded under a programme authored by US Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), chair of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.
Hydrogen-electric engine manufacturer is also a beneficiary of the $36 million funding.
bp’s SAF production will be key to supplying SAF to airports in the region via the Olympic Pipeline which runs from Ferndale to Portland and supplies fuel to Sea-Tac Airport.
Its grant is the second-highest amount awarded in the nation during this round of funding among 36 total grants.
In 2018, Cherry Point began producing renewable fuels with lower lifecycle emissions than traditional fuels.
Part of this was driven by policy: Washington state, California, Oregon and British Columbia have all passed initiatives to reduce the carbon intensity of transportation fuels by up to 20%.
All of this has set the stage for accelerating the production of biofuels, partly through co-processing.
The refinery uses conventional crude oil along with biomass-based feedstocks, like food waste and beef tallow, to produce a blended fuel.
“This $36 million investment in the State of Washington’s growing sustainable aviation industry from my FAST-Tech and FAST-SAF programs will create jobs and cut emissions,” said Sen. Cantwell. “These grants will kick-start SAF production to supply airports across the Pacific Northwest, build low-emission engines for cleaner regional air travel, and develop technologies to reduce fuel burn and cut costs.”
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