SAF: Spotlight On 45Z

Aviation Fuel/Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)Business News/Analysis Federal Legislation Federal Regulation Kansas Opinions Policy Sustainability

August 06, 2026

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by Luke Geiver (Ethanol Producer Magazine) ...

But for companies targeting SAF production through alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) pathways, the recent decrease in value puts SAF producers at a competitive disadvantage.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed in July 2025 dropped the maximum 45Z dollar amount from the once-promised $1.75 per gallon to just $1.
Minus the full incentive, SAF sells for roughly the same price as conventional jet fuel. Meanwhile, corn ethanol producers able to qualify and capture the 45Z credit have received significant financial uplift.
Despite wide support across the greater biofuels, bioenergy and agriculture sectors, the true impact and desired maximum credit value of 45Z remains uncertain.

Economic Breakdown
There is no question that ethanol producers able to satisfy the requirements of the 45Z tax credit are benefiting financially.

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Gevo

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Green Plains

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Alto Ingredients

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The Andersons

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ADM

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Rex American Resources

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Valeror

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Highwater Ethanol

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SAF producer Gevo Inc. has supported work by the USDA and the U.S. Department of Energy to clarify the framework of the 45Z credit creation process, but has not pushed for the top-end value to return to $1.75 per gallon. LanzaJet, which brought the country’s first SAF plant online in 2025, has also remained quiet on the credit’s max value. The company’s major announcements have been related to non-U.S. SAF plant developments in the U.K., Colombia, and other countries including Uzbekistan.

As Jacqui Fatka, lead economist for farm supply and biofuels at CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange research division, said in late 2025 in an analysis piece on the 45Z, “ethanol refineries will benefit most from the extension of the tax credit, and SAF will continue to struggle to takeoff.”

Lingqi Lou, a consulting manager for CERA Consulting’s North American Agribusiness, has been following agricultural supply chains, biofuels, carbon emissions and decarbonizing practices for the past eight years. Lou says corn ethanol producers still need to fight for that extra 75 cents, despite the clear boon 45Z has already been to qualifying producers not targeting ATJ.

Her analysis points more to concerns of the future than to current conditions.

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“Ethanol facilities that are operating today will have to find new markets for ethanol, by reallocating production capacity for either marine biofuel, SAF feedstock or further development of export markets if the market for E15 does not materialize as a standard,” she says. “If no new market channels develop by 2040, then there is a risk that the ethanol industry will have excess production capacity relative to the forecasted domestic demand for U.S. corn ethanol.”

Corn-based ATJ could be a major market for current ethanol producers, but only if the market is built out. At $1 per gallon, the 45Z incentive is not high enough to support the needed growth in the SAF or ATJ markets of the U.S., Lou explains.

“SAF is still a developing sector and, in general, has higher costs of production than its fossil fuel counterparts and comparatively higher costs than its more mature counterparts for on-road biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel,” she says.

Lou’s analysis shows that the sum of the 45Z credit at $1.75 per gallon—along with the D4 renewable identification number (RIN)—can close the gap on production costs and allow more SAF producers to bring their product to market.

“Not every SAF producer is able to produce ATJ even with a rounded estimate of $3.25 per gallon stack of incentives to the supply chain in 2025 dollars, but those economics are easier to work with than a lower credit ceiling of $1-per-gallon 45Z,” she adds.

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Because sustainable jet fuel is not currently an obligated fuel in the U.S. at the federal or state level, Lou says, the consumption of SAF of any kind will only be voluntary and therefore often based on price. At $1.75 per gallon, the incentive stack for SAF producers is more feasible and makes them competitive regardless of mandated use policy.

Industry Responses
In 2026, advocacy efforts aimed at altering 45Z have varied across organizations, geographies and specific industry focus.

The SAF Coalition, a nonprofit organization of 50 airlines, low-carbon fuel companies, manufacturers, technology developers and airports, has been vocal in its support of raising the maximum credit value back to at least $1.75 per gallon.

Ethanol production groups like the Renewable Fuels Association and Growth Energy, however, have focused more on the architecture of the existing credit awarding system and less on the top-end monetary value. Both groups have also been vocal about the 45ZCF-GREET model and sustainable agriculture practices in calculating CI of 45Z-qualifying biofuels.

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The SAF Act
Seeber and the SAF Coalition strongly support new legislation to bring back the $1.75 max for 45Z credits—S.3759 and H.R.6518, both known as the Securing America’s Fuels (SAF) Act.

The SAF Act would increase the current maximum credit value to $1.75 per gallon and extend 45Z through 2033. The bipartisan SAF Act has been endorsed by multiple industry and ag groups, including the National Corn Growers Association, Airlines for America, Kansas Farm Bureau, Global Business Travel Association, Nebraska Soybean Association, Nebraska Farm Bureau, Advanced Biofuels Association, Darling Ingredients, Louisiana Farm Bureau, Twelve, Kansas Soybean Association, Greater New Orleans Inc., Kansas Corn, the SAF Coalition and Renew Kansas.

Senator Jerry Moran, R-KS, sponsored the Senate version of the SAF Act and told Ethanol Producer Magazine about his work.

Moran says the bill has gained strong support from organizations across the state because of the opportunities it creates for Kansas ag and aviation. Several senators cosponsored the bill when it was introduced in February 2026: Amy Klobuchar, D-MN, Joni Ernst, R-IA, and Catherine Cortez Masto, D-NV.

As of press time, the Senate legislation had been referred to the Senate Finance Committee. Legislation in the House was also still in review. READ MORE