GHG Emissions, Industrial, Sourcing Renewables  -  September 26, 2024

Delta Air Lines Deploys SAF in Minnesota

The Minnesota SAF Hub announced that the first 7,000-gallon shipment of blended SAF made from Minnesota/North Dakota-grown winter camelina arrived at the Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) International Airport fueling facility. 

Delta Air Lines has designated flight DL 2732 from Minneapolis to New York on Sept. 25 as the symbolic first flight to be fueled in part by SAF from MSP Airport.

The SAF is made from the winter camelina plant, which produces an oil rich seed that can be crushed, refined and used to produce SAF. It has one of the lower carbon intensity scores of the many feedstocks being used for SAF production today and is also one of the many feedstocks found in Minnesota that can be used to produce SAF, including corn, soybeans, canola, continuous living cover crops, agricultural biomass, woody biomass, hydrogen, waste oils, fats and more.

The Minnesota SAF Hub’s focus on the entire SAF value chain is important because for the winter camelina SAF-fueled flight to come to fruition, many stakeholders and partners were involved.

• Cargill worked with Minnesota and North Dakota growers last fall to plant 2,000 acres of winter camelina, which was harvested this summer and used as a feedstock for the SAF.
• The camelina was processed at Cargill’s West Fargo crush plant and then sent on to Montana Renewables, where it was refined and blended into SAF.
• The camelina SAF was sold to Delta and transported by Shell Aviation directly to the MSP Airport fueling facility where it will enter the fuel supply.
• Delta will cover the cost of the SAF that would be needed for flight DL 2732 from Minneapolis to New York in recognition of New York Climate Week, displacing conventional jet fuel that is traditionally used.

While this current supply of SAF was produced and blended in Montana, the Minnesota SAF Hub recently announced that a new SAF blending facility at Flint Hills Resources’ Pine Bend facility will blend SAF locally by late 2025. Additionally, a Gevo ethanol plant in Luverne, Minnesota, is planning to convert its facility to SAF production in the future.

“This initial SAF delivery is another example of how we are making SAF real in Minnesota and showing the world how to do it right,” said Peter Frosch, President and CEO of the GREATER MSP Partnership, in a statement. “We are highlighting the first SAF flight from MSP International as another major milestone in our push to build a SAF economy anchored in Minnesota. This ambitious effort is moving fast and gaining momentum due to the bold leadership of Minnesota SAF Hub partner organizations.”

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