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Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs) are lower-emission, non-fossil-fuel energy sources for the world’s aircraft fleet—“drop-in” fuels that require no modifications to aircraft or engines. The proposal is to make SAFs largely from biological sources: corn, soybeans, and canola now and over the next decade or so, and then increasingly from straw and other “agricultural residues” and from purpose-grown energy crops such as grasses or fast-growing trees (with a minor portion from forestry residues).
Why should citizens and policymakers be concerned about SAFs? Because the immense scale of the global SAF project creates significant potential to move us away from many of our food systems, climate, decarbonization, sustainability, and social justice goals. At the same time, the huge, global SAF project may fail in its stated intent: to slash greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and warming effects from a rapidly expanding aviation sector.
Darrin Qualman, NFU Director of Climate Crisis Policy and Action, will explain SAFs and tell webinar participants why the global SAF megaproject may be among the largest factors shaping agriculture and food systems this century.
Darrin Qualman is the Director of Climate Crisis Policy and Action at the National Farmers Union, and the author of the NFU’s SAF report. Darrin’s research, writing, and educational pursuits over the past 25 years have all aimed at creating a long-term, big-picture view of food, farming, and energy systems. He is active in social justice and food system struggles and has helped organize many campaigns, including the successful struggle to prevent the introduction of genetically modified wheat into Canada. He has academic degrees in history, biology, and political studies.