BY DOUGLAS BURNS
Special To The Denison Free Press

The long-time leader of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association says a game-changing, farm-economy-lifting new market for Hawkeye State farmers' grain and ag products is sustainable aviation fuel.

"I think we have an amazing opportunity ahead of us," said Montgomery Shaw at a recent biofuels summit held at Landus in Des Moines.

How big is the market for aviation fuels generated from ag resources for Iowa?

"If this happens, it will be the biggest thing that's ever hit Iowa in the history of the state," Shaw said.

In an interview, Shaw said the renewable aviation fuels process involves transporting ethanol to a separate facility where it is blended with hydrogen to create a new molecule that would look more like kerosene.

"The first plant is up and running in January in Georgia," Shaw said. "It's a new technology."

The process costs more than producing traditional ethanol as the carbon need to hit lower metrics. The physical specifications for the fuel are more specific, he said.

"The Inflation Reduction Act tax credits are providing the incentive to say, 'Hey, we can make this economically,'" Shaw said.

"Those tax credits did open up the opportunity to do this," he said.

Shaw said there has never been a new market remotely this size for Iowa farmers.

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One reason that is so important: the demand for corn is four times less than production if ethanol is removed from the mix.

"Our customers are asking for sustainable aviation fuel," Shaw said.

According to the Department of Energy, an estimated 1 billion dry tons of biomass can be collected sustainably each year in the United States, enough to produce 50–60 billion gallons of low-carbon biofuels. These resources include: