The USDA and General Electric are a couple of the key collaborators on a biofuels for jets program at GE Aviation’s Cincinnati-area facilities. During remarks at an event today, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack highlighted the work, along with the Ohio Aerospace Institute, air carriers and producer groups, to develop a Midwest-regional strategy to provide renewable-jet fuel in Ohio:

“We have an incredible opportunity to create thousands of new jobs and drive economic development in rural communities across America by developing innovative ways to use agricultural products to help reduce our reliance on foreign oil,” said Vilsack. “USDA’s collaboration with General Electric Aviation will bring together multiple sectors of Ohio’s economy, including agricultural producers, to foster new innovations in the field of renewable fuels while bolstering new economic opportunities in the Midwest. USDA is proud to work alongside private and public institutions to support the research, creation and distribution of next generation energy solutions.”

USDA is also working with the Ohio Soybean Council by awarding the group a Value Added Producer Grant for a pilot project through Ohio State University’s Bioproducts Innovation Center to refine bio-jet fuel from soybean oil, as well as the Farm Service Agency working with producers in northeastern Ohio and northwestern Pennsylvania through the agency’s Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP). Other efforts include working with the Department of Energy (DOE), Department of the Navy and the Federal Aviation Administration for renewable fuels.

GE Aviation expects to buy up to 5 million gallons of renewable-jet fuel beginning in 2015.