(NAFB) – The USDA joined the government-wide Sustainable Aviation Fuels Grand Challenge to meet 100 percent of U.S. aviation fuel demand. The initiative was announced last week at a White House roundtable.

“USDA and American agriculture will make sustainable aviation possible in concert with our federal and industry partners and their stakeholders,” says Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack. “We can expand our ability to power the nation’s aviation sector with fuel grown right here at home by hard-working Americans while creating economic opportunity for American farmers, business owners, and rural communities.”

He also says that participating in SAF supply chains is a big win for the aviation business, consumers, and the planet. USDA will provide continued research, development, demonstration, and deployment of technologies necessary for identifying innovative solutions that will enable a government-wide commitment of producing 35 billion gallons of SAF per year by 2050. It also establishes a near-term goal of three billion gallons per year as a milestone for 2030.

The agency will also work to ensure farmers, foresters, small businesses, and rural economies benefit from these opportunities with attention to cost, quality, and quantity of agricultural-based feedstock for producing SAF.