Key facts
- Mitsubishi Corp. and Archer Daniels Midland are exploring the use of soybeans and corn to produce sustainable aviation fuel.
- This collaboration aims to meet the growing demand for environmentally friendly aviation fuel.
- ADM has prior experience and plans involving sustainable aviation fuel production, including an agreement with Gevo.
- Previous plans with Gevo involved utilizing ADM's ethanol production capacity to create up to 500 million gallons of SAF.
- The initiative leverages ADM's existing infrastructure and agricultural processing capabilities.
Mitsubishi Corp. is considering investments exceeding $600 million in food-related areas, including a potential collaboration with Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from soybeans and corn. This move aligns with the global push for decarbonization in the aviation sector.
ADM has prior experience in SAF production. In 2021, the company announced plans to use more than half of its ethanol production capacity to produce SAF as part of an agreement with Gevo. This memorandum of understanding aimed to produce up to 500 million gallons of SAF annually, utilizing Gevo's technology at ADM plants in Columbus, Nebraska; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and Decatur, Illinois. These plants have a combined ethanol production capacity of approximately 900 million gallons, which represents about half of ADM's total annual ethanol output.
The agreement with Gevo included plans for commercial production to begin between 2025 and 2026. ADM also proposed a new facility in Decatur to produce isobutanol, a fuel additive, with capabilities for carbon capture and sequestration. The U.S. government, through initiatives announced by the USDA, Department of Energy, and Department of Transportation, has set ambitious goals for SAF production, aiming for 3 billion gallons annually by 2030 and 35 billion gallons by 2050. Biofuels like SAF are chemically identical to petroleum-based fuels and meet the same standards, but are produced with reduced carbon emissions.