Summit Agricultural Group this week announced the creation of Summit Next Gen, a sustainable aviation fuel production platform to provide a scalable supply of low-carbon jet fuel. Summit Next Gen will utilize Honeywell’s Ethanol to Jet processing technology to convert ethanol into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which “creates an additional market for low-carbon ethanol producers and advances the sustainability goals of the difficult to decarbonize aviation industry.”

Growing low-carbon markets, recent state-level programs, and incentives created under the Inflation Reduction Act that are broadly supported by the biofuels, energy, and aviation industries catalyzed the creation of Summit Next Gen to meet growing demand for SAF. Sustainable aviation fuel is nearly identical to petroleum-based jet fuel sources and is currently approved at blend rates up to 50% by ASTM International providing a “drop in fuel” solution.

“The creation of Summit Next Gen and our partnership with a technology leader like Honeywell UOP sets a new standard for the agriculture, ethanol, and aviation industries,” said Bruce Rastetter, CEO of Summit Agricultural Group. “The agriculture and ethanol industries have a long history of continuous improvement producing more with less, and this has enabled forward-thinking ethanol producers to be favorably positioned for the present challenge of helping aviation reduce its carbon footprint.”