CRA’s energy experts prepared a cost-benefit analysis of Gevo Inc.’s planned Net Zero 1 (NZ1) Alcohol-to-Jet (ATJ) Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) facility. The objective of the analysis was to assess and quantify the total benefits and incentive costs that are not currently captured in the levelized production cost of SAF.
Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) presents the most promising pathway to decarbonize aviation, a key component of the American and broader global economy. SAFs are renewable jet fuels derived from renewable feedstocks such as agriculture crops, vegetable and other oils and fats, and forestry and municipal wastes. They can be used in existing infrastructure and aircrafts today as a drop-in substitute for fossil jet fuel that has significantly lower lifecycle GHG emissions.
This analysis compared total benefits of SAF with the net incentive costs delivered through current federal programs. The key findings established that annually, the value of total benefits is estimated to be more than four to six times the net cost of current federal incentives. Not all benefits could be quantified. Additional benefits from SAF, which were considered qualitatively in this analysis, included benefits to energy security and to the future competitiveness of the agriculture, ethanol, and aviation industries under a rapid decarbonization scenario.
