Leadership of the Seattle-Paine Field International Airport hosted a tour with Governor Jay Inslee on Tuesday, July 9, 2024, of the future site of the upcoming Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Research and Development Center. The facility will add to Snohomish County’s appeal as being on the forefront of climate change solutions.
The R&D Center is made possible through a partnership with Washington State University (WSU) and will be the world’s first-ever SAF repository of its type for advancing sustainable aviation fuel technologies and serve the global needs for reference samples to support research, the county says. The Center will also be the only facility to collect, sample, and distribute SAF at a scale needed for widespread use in the largest aircrafts.
SAF’s are a biofuel with similar properties and safety requirements as conventional jet fuel used in aircraft but with a smaller carbon footprint. These certified “Jet-A1” fuels are made by blending conventional kerosene (fossil-based) with renewable hydrocarbon. Currently, SAFs are used as a “drop-in” replacement to conventional petroleum-based jet fuel that when combined is called a blend. The minimal acceptance blend is 10% SAF to a high of 50%. The goal is a certified 100% replacement blend of SAF to conventional jet fuel.
In Snohomish County, aviation is estimated to have accounted for 5% of Snohomish County’s total community-wide greenhouse gas emissions in 2019, which represents a 23% increase from 2015 levels, according to the county.
A huge benefit to SAFs than alternative green aviation solutions such as electric- and hydrogen- powered aircraft fleets is the minimal disruption to implement into existing infrastructure. It is cost beneficial to ensure that manufacturers do not have to redesign engines nor aircraft, and that fuel suppliers and airports do not have to build new fuel delivery systems.
The state allocated $6.5 million for the SAF Center in the 2023-25 Transportation Budget and hopes to be receiving an FAA FAST-SAF grant of approximately $35 million in a few weeks. The grant is critical to commence construction of the facility that will be located on eight acres just behind Tapped Mukilteo. Congressional delegation members Representatives Suzan DelBene (WA-01), Rick Larsen (WA-02), and Kim Shrier (WA-08), and Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) are advocating in D.C. for the grant on behalf of Snohomish County residents.
“It will be right here next to the airport because that helps us with our partners like Boeing and Alaska,” Josh Marcy, Director of Paine Field, said. “There is a chance for expansion…to electrical or hydrogen; this just doesn’t have to be just jet fuel.”
Marcy assured the Lynnwood Times that the new facility will look “pretty” and will be quiet for the nearby residents of Mukilteo.
Seattle-Paine Field International Airport is an economic engine for Snohomish County, supporting some 158,000 jobs and generating nearly $60 billion annually to its economic vitality. According to the Washington State Employment Security Department’s monthly report in May, Snohomish County the lowest unemployment rate in Washington State at 4.3%.
WSDOT’s Sustainable Aviation Grant program, established by SSB-5975 that was signed by the Governor Inslee in 2022, helped the airfield purchase electric ground equipment for Paine Field. Currently, the airport is about to repave its East General Aviation Ramp and Taxiway Foxtrot; and entering Phase II of its Taxiway Echo rehabilitation project that is scheduled to complete in 2025.