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ST. PAUL 鈥� The first Sustainable Aviation Fuel has arrived at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, according to a coalition of Minnesota businesses committed to scaling production of SAF in the state. 

announced on Tuesday, Sept. 24, that the first 7,000-gallon shipment of blended SAF made from winter camelina grown by Minnesota and North Dakota farmers arrived at the MSP fueling facility.

Delta Air Lines has designated flight DL 2732 from Minneapolis to New York City on Wednesday, Sept. 25, as the symbolic first flight to be fueled in part by SAF from MSP Airport, as part of . 

For the winter camelina SAF-fueled flight to come to fruition, many stakeholders and partners were involved, according to the Minnesota SAF Hub.

In collaboration with the University of Minnesota鈥檚 , Cargill worked with Minnesota and North Dakota growers last fall to plant 2,000 acres of winter camelina, which was harvested this summer and used as a feedstock for the SAF.

The camelina was processed at Cargill鈥檚 West Fargo crush plant and then sent on to Montana Renewables, where it was refined and blended into SAF. The camelina SAF was sold to Delta and transported by Shell Aviation to the MSP Airport fueling facility where it entered the fuel supply.

While this current supply of SAF was produced and blended in Montana,

鈥淭his initial SAF delivery is another example of how we are making SAF real in Minnesota and showing the world how to do it right,鈥� said Peter Frosch, CEO of GREATER MSP, which spearheaded the Minnesota SAF Hub. 鈥淭his first batch of camelina SAF is a demonstration of how we plan to decarbonize air travel and improve water quality on agricultural lands while providing new income sources for farmers in and around Minnesota.鈥�

Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan called the effort an 鈥渋mportant part of our goal to make Minnesota a global leader in solving climate change.鈥�

鈥淢innesota is uniquely positioned to lead in this developing industry. We are not just tackling emissions within our borders, but we want Minnesota to be the place where big solutions are created and exported across the globe,鈥� she said. 

The SAF delivered this week to MSP Airport was made from the winter camelina plant that produces an oil-rich seed, which can be crushed, refined, and used to produce SAF. It has one of the lower carbon intensity scores of the many feedstocks being used for SAF production today, according to the Minnesota SAF Hub. 

Noah Fish / Agweek

At the recent North American SAF Conference and Expo in St. Paul, Heather Buechter, director of communications for Clean Fuels Alliance America, said feedstocks that can be used for SAF include corn, soybeans, canola, continuous living cover crops, agricultural biomass, woody biomass, hydrogen, waste oils, fats and more. 

鈥淲hat we鈥檙e trying to figure out, and what a lot of our research is centered around, is the low (carbon intensity) scores,鈥� she said. 

Clean Fuels Alliance America is a national trade association representing the biodiesel, renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel industries. It was founded over 30 years ago by soybean farmers, who Buechter said today are looking for ways to involve their crop more in the SAF industry. 

鈥淲e need to get the carbon intensity score for soybeans down more to make it more competitive,鈥� she said.