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Sustainable aviation fuel plans under fire over crop emissions

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07 May, 2025

This post was originally published on Green Biz

Source: Green Biz

Key takeaways

  • World Resources Institute urges U.S. policymakers and businesses to exclude corn and soybean fuels from plans to decarbonize aviation.
  • Industry places both sources at the heart of expansion of sustainable aviation fuel use.
  • State and federal regulators will likely be the key arbiters that shape company decisions.

For business flights that can’t be avoided, there’s only one near-term mitigation option: Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), a lower-carbon alternative to fossil jet fuel. 

Scaling SAF is the focus of the global strategy to decarbonize aviation, but researchers at the World Resources Institute (WRI) are urging a rethink of how the U.S. plans to do so. In a new report, the WRI team argues that when a more holistic approach is used to assess SAF production, two crops that are essential to scaling supply — corn and soy — are found to create more emissions than conventional fossil fuels.

The crops “are not a viable strategy for decarbonizing aviation,” said Audrey Denvir, a WRI research associate and an author of the report.

SAF advocates disputed the report’s conclusions, saying the researchers failed to distinguish between global averages and data on more sustainable biofuel crops grown in the U.S.

Scaling supply

Almost all SAF is currently produced from used cooking oil and other inedible biomass, and is broadly agreed to lead to real carbon savings when it displaces fossil jet fuel. But current production is tiny: The U.S. produces around 1 percent of the quantity needed to hit a government target of 3 billion gallons of domestic production by 2030, according to a 2024 Department of Energy report.

With limited additional waste oil available, the industry in the U.S. is relying on purpose-grown soy and corn to drive near-term growth. “Purpose-grown crops could constitute the majority of the supply within six to 10 years,” estimated Adam Klauber, who oversees sustainability and digital supply chains at World Energy, an SAF producer. 

To qualify as SAF, fuels produced from these crops need to emit no more than 50 percent of the emissions from fossil jet fuel. Many in the industry say they do, but the researchers argue that assessment rests on faulty accounting.

In a report released last week on how biomass can be used to decarbonize the U.S. economy, the researchers used a metric called “carbon opportunity cost” to calculate spillover impacts of fuel crops. As global demand for food grows, dedicating land for this purpose leads to forests and other native ecosystems being converted to agriculture, releasing additional emissions in the process. The fuels “actually increase emissions once you really account for all of the land use,” said Denvir. The European Union already excludes most biofuel crops from its SAF targets for similar reasons. 

‘Context is everything’

Industry figures questioned key details of the analysis. Klauber argued that relying on global averages for the impacts of biofuel crops overlooks the higher performance of crops grown in the U.S. “Context is everything,” he said. In the case of soy production, for example, Klauber said the researchers used a carbon intensity figure that was several times higher than the one other academic and environmental organizations use. 

Specific farming practices are also critical, he added. For example, biofuels can be grown either alongside and simultaneously with food crops, or during the shoulder season on either side of them. “That is broadly accepted as a sustainable practice, but it’s not yet at commercial scale,” said Klauber. “We’re working to increase that, because that really will be a way to increase the productivity of land without impacting food.”

A handful of organizations hold sway in determining which argument should govern growth of SAF in the U.S. The federal government, which oversees a clean energy tax credit known as 45Z that can apply to SAF, is unlikely to back more stringent environmental rules under the current administration. Regulators such as the California Air Resources Board also control certification schemes for SAF. 

“The larger problem is on the demand side where business customers and buyers’ groups might exclude specific allowable feedstocks from contracts based on the perceived-negative public perception regarding soy or corn,” noted Klauber.

The post Sustainable aviation fuel plans under fire over crop emissions appeared first on Trellis.

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Urban 'placemaking' focus for $85m recreation centre

Urban 'placemaking' focus for $85m recreation centre

Sydney developer Billbergia Group has announced the Rhodes Recreation Centre — an $85 million, 9200 m2 multi-purpose community hub in Sydney’s Inner West.

Located at 6 Gauthorpe St and designed by architectural firm SJB, the recreation centre is in a three-level podium building beneath two high-rise residential towers — the 48-level Peake and 43-level Oasis. Together, they form stage two of the developer’s Rhodes Central Masterplan — a $3 billion, three-stage town centre project.

The Rhodes Recreation Centre was delivered under a $97 million Voluntary Planning Agreement (VPA) between the developer and City of Canada Bay Council. It will be handed over to council next month and is set to open later this year. Once complete, the masterplan will have delivered 25,000 m2 of dedicated public amenity, including retail, community facilities and open space.

With the NSW Government’s housing reforms set to address the housing shortage, the recreation centre will reflect the importance of ‘placemaking’ — a collaborative approach to designing and managing public spaces that enhances community wellbeing and fosters connections between people and their environment — in planning new urban communities.

It also presents a pathway for public and private sectors to collaborate and create social infrastructure while increasing housing supply in fast-growing suburbs.

The recreation centre is set to add vibrancy and pedestrian activity to the local streetscape, providing a diverse range of facilities that enhance the livability of the evolving suburb. These community amenities include two full-sized indoor sports courts, a gymnastics centre, a 70-place childcare centre, a community lounge, allied health services, and bookable spaces for local groups and events. It also provides a gym with cardio equipment, weights, group fitness rooms, a creche and an outdoor terrace, alongside a range of sustainability features.

Facilities at the Rhodes Recreation Centre. Images supplied.

“Rhodes Recreation Centre is the community heart of our high-density TOD development, bringing to life Billbergia’s vision for a future-focused, livable urban environment that prioritises amenity, not just density,” said Saul Moran, Development Director – Planning and Design at Billbergia.

The amenities within the two residential towers include a swimming pool, spa, sauna, children’s play area, library and theatre rooms. Pedestrian connections and through-site links provide access to Rhodes railway station and the Homebush Bay waterfront.

“The Rhodes Recreation Centre stands as a benchmark in successful public–private collaboration. Through a VPA with Canada Bay Council, we’ve created a pathway to unlock additional housing supply while delivering significant, lasting community infrastructure. It’s a clear demonstration of how thoughtful public and private partnerships can shape vibrant, livable neighbourhoods,” Moran said.

Located adjacent to Rhodes railway station, stage one of Billbergia’s Rhodes Central Masterplan was completed in 2021 and included the 13,000 m2 Rhodes Central Shopping Centre, with convenience retail, a Woolworths supermarket, medical facilities and the Bamboo Lane dining precinct.

Other previous projects include the 1.2 ha Phoenix Park in Rhodes, the $63 million Bennelong Bridge, the popular Baylink Shuttle service, the 3500 m2 Wentworth Point Community Centre and Library, and the Wentworth Point Pop-Up Town Square.

Billbergia’s ongoing focus on placemaking and social infrastructure also includes the $8.4 million delivery of a library at its mixed-tenure development, Arncliffe Central, in Sydney’s south. There is the potential for 75% of Arncliffe Central’s dwellings to be dedicated to social, affordable and essential worker rental housing, along with 3400 m2 allocated to childcare, convenience retail and cafes, and a 4000 m2 park with play space for both residents and the broader community.

Top image caption: The Rhodes Recreation Centre location with two planned residential towers, Peake and Oasis. Image supplied.

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