 This week, Executive Somers announced that 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.
“Snohomish County is defined by our beautiful and abundant natural resources – protecting them is central to our way of life. We are also the global heart of cutting-edge commercial aerospace manufacturing, which has been an important economic driver of the county for over 50 years,” said Executive Somers. “With our history and resources, Snohomish County is the ideal place for businesses to invest in trailblazing climate change solutions. This R&D Center for Sustainable Aviation Fuels is a foundational component of our long-term commitment to generate new jobs in environmentally sustainable sectors and help decarbonize aviation.”
Snohomish County’s Paine Field Airport, a major hub of aviation and aerospace in the region, supports over 158,000 jobs and generates nearly $60 billion annually for the economy. However, the continued success of commercial aviation depends on addressing the industry’s carbon emissions that contribute to global climate change. In Snohomish County, aviation is estimated to have accounted for five percent of Snohomish County’s total communitywide greenhouse gas emissions in 2019, which represents a 23 percent increase from 2015 levels.
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.
The County and WSU have identified the SAF repository as the most immediate need and the element of the project that can be implemented quickest. The Center at Paine Field will host a ‘bank’ of SAF samples from commercial and experimental SAF production methods. Paine Field, when combined with other WSU assets, will form the world’s first SAF repository with data management, storage, and distribution. In effect, the repository will do for SAF development what seed banks do for agricultural research.
Paine Field represents the ideal location for the R&D Center for SAF due to its proximity to the production of medium- and long-haul aircraft, defined as planes that seat at least 100 passengers and fly at least 150 minutes. These aircraft make up 73 percent of carbon emissions in aviation.
Anyone interested can find more information on the R&D Center for SAF on this website.
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