March 29, 2023

Duckworth Chairs Commerce Committee Hearing on Improving Next Generation Aviation Technologies, Advocates for American-Grown Sustainable Aviation Fuel

 

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] — U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation (CST) and Chair of the Subcommittee on Aviation Safety, Operations and Innovation—which has jurisdiction over the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)—chaired today’s full committee hearing to examine innovative, lower emission and sustainable aviation technologies to help support the next generation of commercial aircraft. During her remarks, Duckworth advocated for American-grown, American-made sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to reduce emissions and highlighted Illinois’ unique position to become a hydrogen hub to help further develop its use for aviation. Video of the Senator’s remarks can be found here.

“One of the most important things we could do to make American aviation more sustainable is increase the supply of American-grown, American-made, sustainable aviation fuel or ‘SAF,’” said Duckworth. “Policies that ‘grow’ sustainable aviation fuel sources stemming from America’s agricultural bounty represents a true win-win solution that supports domestic farmers and blenders, while reducing our carbon footprint across all modes of transportation. That is why I strongly believe the forthcoming FAA Reauthorization must require the Federal Government to use the most up-to-date lifecycle emissions models – such as Argonne National Lab’s GREET model – that accurately consider crops, land uses and carbon reduction practices in the U.S.”

In the Senate, Duckworth has been a leader in supporting biofuels, including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). To help increase the availability of E15 biofuels, Duckworth helped introduce the bipartisan Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act and the bipartisan Next Generations Fuel Act to allow the year-round, nationwide sale of ethanol blends higher than 10 percent. Duckworth additionally helped introduced the bipartisan Home Front Energy Independence Act to ban Russian oil and expand use and production of biofuel that’s grown in the American heartland, while providing American families with a less expensive option to fuel their vehicles. The Senator also created a pilot project in last year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to promote the use of SAF at military installations and will continue to increase these efforts to expand the use on biofuels whenever possible.

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