BP’s Cherry Point refinery will soon begin turning crops and municipal waste into jet fuel
A federal grant announced recently will help BP’s Cherry Point oil refinery start a sustainable energy program to make jet fuel from “biomass feedstocks” — crops grown for fuel, along with compost, municipal waste and other by-products.
To get the program off the ground, BP received a nearly $27 million award from the Federal Aviation Administration’s sustainable aviation fuel initiative, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell said in an emailed statement Aug. 16.
At the BP refinery west of Ferndale, the petroleum producer will be making jet fuel from beef tallow, soybean oil and used cooking oil, a refinery official told The Bellingham Herald.
Cantwell pushed for the program as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, which President Joe Biden signed two years ago.
“These grants will kick-start sustainable aviation fuel production to supply airports across the Pacific Northwest, build low-emission engines for cleaner regional air travel, and develop technologies to reduce fuel burn and cut costs,” Cantwell said.
BP will use its funding to build infrastructure and buy equipment to make sustainable aviation fuel for the first time, Cantwell said.
Company officials estimate that they can make 10 million gallons of “green” jet fuel every year.
This new project would create 96 new jobs and supply airports across the Northwest via the Olympic Pipeline, which runs from Ferndale to Portland and supplies fuel to Sea-Tac Airport.
