The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has awarded grants to five universities to help establish regional sustainable aviation fuel supply chains across the U.S.
The grants will finance research on identifying regional raw materials that can be turned into aviation fuel through existing infrastructure within the reach of an airport, FAA said Thursday.
“These funds will help build regional supply chains so that communities across our country – many of them rural – feel the economic benefits of producing sustainable aviation fuel,” explained Pete Buttigieg, secretary of the Department of Transportation.
The five grant recipients are:
- Washington State University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- University of Tennessee
- University of Hawaii
- Purdue University
The funding is part of $14.4 million in awards to 13 university teams aimed at building a sustainable aviation system. It falls in line with a Biden administration initiative to produce at least three billion gallons of sustainable aircraft fuel annually by 2030.