Snohomish County establishing SAF R&D center

In Washington state, Snohomish County is establishing a world-leading Research and Development (R&D) Center focused on Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) at Paine Field Airport. The project, which is a partnership with Washington State University (WSU), when combined with other WSU assets in Washington will create the world’s first SAF repository of this type for advancing sustainable aviation fuel technologies and serve the global need for reference samples to support research. The Center will also be the only facility to collect, sample, and distribute SAF at a scale needed for widespread use in the largest aircraft.

Washington State Senate Transportation Committee Chair Marko Liias is including a proviso in the proposed Senate Transportation Budget to provide $6.5 million in start-up funding for the project. State Representative Brandy Donaghy is sponsoring the proviso in the House.

With the R&D Center for SAF, the County and its partners are looking to change the industrial landscape by leading the world in the development, distribution, and adoption of new technologies to reduce the economy’s dependence on carbon-based fuels. To achieve that goal, the Center at Paine Field will support the following SAF components:

·      Repository: SAF samples will be received, tested at small scales, indexed, distributed around the U.S. and world. This meets an immediate community need as a repository of this type does not currently exist.

·      Finishing: SAF samples and production methods could be investigated to reduce costs and the impact on human health and the environment.

·      Large-Scale Testing: SAF samples could be tested at large scales (by the thousands of gallons) needed to ensure safety and bring new fuels and products to market.