Administration Misses GREET Deadline

Biden administration officials announced they will miss a self-imposed deadline of March 1 to complete modifications to the GREET model for sustainable aviation fuels (SAF). The model is critically important for determining eligibility for the Inflation Reduction Act’s “40-B” SAF tax credit.

Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper says while they were pleased to hear progress is being made on the modified GREET model, they are disappointed by this additional delay. “RFA is calling on the interagency Working Group to complete this process as quickly as possible while maintaining scientific integrity and honoring the commitment to incorporate a broad range of carbon reduction strategies,” he says. “To meet the Biden administration’s SAF goals, the marketplace needs certainty and clarity.”

He also says investment and innovation in SAF technologies will remain frozen until the model gets finalized and additional guidance is issued. “It’s an enormous decarbonization opportunity,” he adds.

Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor said in part that “The administration made a clear commitment to finalize this guidance no later than March 1. This delay is frustrating, but we’re optimistic that it’s happening for a productive reason. Ultimately, what’s most important is getting it right, and making sure that the resulting updates provide real opportunities for American farmers to contribute to the SAF market.”

You can read full statements from RFA, Growth Energy and American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) below:

ACE Statement on Delayed Guidance and GREET Model for SAF Tax Credit

Sioux Falls, SD – Today, it was announced that the Biden administration will miss its self-imposed March 1 deadline to issue updated modeling and clarity on whether feedstocks like corn ethanol will qualify for the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) tax credit created under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) via an updated version of the Energy Department’s Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Technologies (GREET) model. ACE CEO Brian Jennings released this statement in response:
“We are grateful for the leadership and tenacity of USDA Secretary Vilsack as the Interagency Working Group continues to work through key details of how the GREET model will be modified for the new 40B SAF and 45Z clean fuel production tax credits. 
 
“Since 40B and 45Z are based on lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, every single point of carbon intensity has value, which makes it essential to get the details around any modifications to the GREET model right. That’s why we wrote the Interagency Working Group earlier this week to emphasize the importance of a GREET model for 40B and 45Z which includes meaningful carbon credits for climate-smart agriculture practices as illustrated by ACE’s multi-year project supported by USDA’s NRCS RCPP program. We also cautioned the Interagency Working Group against a final model approach which arbitrarily inflates land use change penalties that have been disproven by real-world observations of what is actually occurring.”

RFA Calls on Administration to Expeditiously Finalize GREET Modifications

Officials from the Biden administration today announced that they will miss a self-imposed March 1 deadline to complete modifications to the GREET model for sustainable aviation fuels (SAF). The model is critically important for determining eligibility for the Inflation Reduction Act’s “40B” SAF tax credit.

“While we are pleased to hear progress is being made on the modified GREET model, we are disappointed by this additional delay,” said RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper. “RFA is calling on the Interagency Working Group to complete this process as expeditiously as possible, while maintaining scientific integrity and honoring the commitment to incorporate a broad range of carbon reduction strategies. To meet the Biden administration’s SAF goals, the marketplace needs certainty and clarity. Investment and innovation in SAF technologies will remain frozen until the model is finalized and additional guidance is issued.”

Cooper added, “Getting the modeling right could open the door for America’s farmers and ethanol producers to participate in an enormous decarbonization opportunity. But getting it wrong will strand investments and assure the failure of the Biden administration’s climate objectives.”

Growth Energy Comment on Delay of 40B Modeling Updates

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor issued the following statement today in response to reports that the Biden administration would be delaying the release of its carbon modeling updates for the 40B Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) tax credit:

“The administration made a clear commitment to finalize this guidance no later than March 1. This delay is frustrating, but we’re optimistic that it’s happening for a productive reason. Ultimately, what’s most important is getting it right, and making sure that the resulting updates provide real opportunities for American farmers to contribute to the SAF market. Officials should follow the science behind Argonne-GREET, the most accurate model and the only one that accounts for all of the climate-smart innovations happening on farms across America’s heartland. American bioethanol producers must be allowed to compete in the SAF marketplace. The alternative is making SAF from Brazilian sugar cane, or used cooking oil imported from China, instead of renewable crop-based feedstocks grown on American farms.”