Soybeans Taking Flight Powering Planes

There is likely to be greater future soybean oil demand as a feedstock for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), according to Tom Verry, Director of Outreach and Development at Clean Fuels Alliance America. There are about 100 billion gallons of jet aviation fuel used annually around the world, about 26 billion gallons of that total is used by aircraft in the United States. A limited portion of that total is SAF – 30 million gallons in the first half of 2024, said Verry. The U.S. government has a goal of 3 billion gallons of annual SAF usage by 2030. The reason for that goal is simple.

“Low carbon,” stated Verry. “It depends on the feedstock you make it out of: soybean oil, used cooking oil, animal fats. You’re going to significantly reduce your carbon emissions by 70 to 80 percent. That’s the main driver right now. It could be a potentially huge demand for soybean oil there eventually.

Some soybean oil is used now in producing SAF, but what currently limits soybean oil as a feedstock for SAF is its higher cost and its slightly higher carbon score when compared to used cooking oil (UCO). Major airlines want to adopt SAF, but at the lowest possible carbon score, according to Verry, adding that he is confident in the advantages of, and eventual dependence on soy-based SAF.

“What they like about soy is it’s the easiest,” Verry pointed out, during an interview for The Soybean Pod podcast. “It’s a challenge for the [fuel] producers to make SAF at the same rate with UCO that they do with soy. And we’re working with our soybean stakeholders, the United Soybean Board, [and] the South Dakota Soybean Research and Promotion Council, on getting that [carbon] score down for soybean oil and soybeans that open up bigger markets for the product.”

Major airlines have pledged to reduce their collective carbon footprint in the coming decades, which Verry says will eventually result in burgeoning demand for soybean oil.

“I’ve got Delta, Alaska, United, Southwest, they all have zero carbon goals by 2040, 2050. Ninety-five percent of their carbon emissions come from fuel, so they’re going to have to figure this out if they’re going to meet these goals,” said Verry. “And they put them in their SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) filings, telling their stockholders they’re going to do it. So, it puts some pressure on them to actually come through with this. At first, they’re going to use the used cooking oil; when they run out of that, they’re going to use soy.”

While there’s well-deserved excitement about how SAF and renewable diesel can grow demand for soybean oil as a feedstock, Verry points out reasons for continued enthusiasm about the growing demand for biodiesel among big fuel users.

“Marine and rail are really big opportunities. They don’t want renewable diesel, they’re not going to use SAF; they want biodiesel,” Verry stressed. “If you want carbon out of your fuel, biodiesel is the most cost-effective way to do it.

Among the Class I railroads in the U.S., Union Pacific joined Clean Fuels Alliance America for among other reasons, to get access to the organization’s technical and regulatory databases, according to Verry.

“We have six Class I railroads in the country. Our supply chain people are working with them to develop their supply chains. They have locations around the country obviously. They want to get high blends of biodiesel into that. We’re also working with them to get higher [blend] approvals for the locomotive engine manufacturers.”

Verry cites Union Pacific Railroad’s goal of meeting ten percent of its fuel needs with biodiesel by next year.

“They’re at six percent right now and I think 100 million gallons of biodiesel is going into trains this year, ’24,” he said, “and I think we can get to a billion gallons in five years.”

Likewise, there’s growing enthusiasm for biodiesel among marine fuel users. What does this mean for soybean oil demand? Soybean oil was for many years half the feedstock for bio-based liquid fuels. Now it’s closer to 40 percent, but Verry is quick to point out that’s no reason for despair.

“Okay, five years ago, maybe we had a 50 percent share of a two-billion-gallon market,” said Verry, “but now you’re getting a 40 percent share of a five-billion-gallon market, so it’s a good deal.”

“We don’t have enough soybean oil,” he continued. “If they had more we would use more. And the farmers say, ‘If you pay me more, I’ll make you more.’ And I said, ‘Ok. Deal.’”

That might be the case. Including the new plant under construction south of Mitchell, South Dakota, new crush capacity is coming online.

“I think we have four crush plants coming online in the next six months that will generate two billion pounds of additional soybean oil,” said Verry. “None of that’s going to go into food. It’s going to come into our industry, so I think with the demand from this industry, it is critical for the future of soybean farmers to keep growing.”