Today, it was announced that the Biden administration will miss its self-imposed March 1 deadline to issue updated modeling and clarity on whether feedstocks like corn ethanol will qualify for the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) tax credit created under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) via an updated version of the Energy Department's Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Technologies (GREET) model. ACE CEO Brian Jennings released this statement in response:
"We are grateful for the leadership and tenacity of USDA Secretary Vilsack as the Interagency Working Group continues to work through key details of how the GREET model will be modified for the new 40B SAF and 45Z clean fuel production tax credits.
“Since 40B and 45Z are based on lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, every single point of carbon intensity has value, which makes it essential to get the details around any modifications to the GREET model right. That’s why we wrote the Interagency Working Group earlier this week to emphasize the importance of a GREET model for 40B and 45Z which includes meaningful carbon credits for climate-smart agriculture practices as illustrated by ACE’s multi-year project supported by USDA’s NRCS RCPP program. We also cautioned the Interagency Working Group against a final model approach which arbitrarily inflates land use change penalties that have been disproven by real-world observations of what is actually occurring.”