Washington is expanding efforts to make the state a leader in emissions-free aviation, Gov. Jay Inslee signaled at the Paris Air Show this week.
Inslee on Monday joined ZeroAvia CEO Val Miftakhov at the air show to announce that the state will invest $350,000 to aid ZeroAvia’s expansion at Boeing’s Paine Field in Everett, Wash., where the company is working to develop an electric engine to be installed in Dash 8-4000 76-seat aircraft. The state previously provided $350,000 to ZeroAvia in 2022.
Meanwhile, another Washington-based project will begin to use renewable energy and water to transform carbon dioxide into a synthetic aviation fuel.
Inslee is in Paris because aviation is a major state industry. The sector also accounts for 2.5% of the world’s carbon emissions, according to governor’s office.
ZeroAvia is developing hydrogen-electric planes, targeting a 300-mile range for nine- to 19-seat aircraft by 2025, and a 700-mile range for 40- to 80-seat aircraft by 2027. The company says it is has secured $10 billion in pre-orders from several airlines.
“ZeroAvia is a key member of the rapidly growing ecosystem of world-leading innovators located in Washington state who are building the future of sustainable aviation fuels and zero-emission propulsion systems,” Inslee said in a press release.
In the same release, Miftakhov said: “The support from Governor Inslee and the Washington Department of Commerce enables us to push forward quickly on our targets for commercial flight of up to 20-seat aircraft by 2025, and up to 80-seat aircraft by 2027.”
In April, the Washington legislature appropriated $6.5 million to build a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) research center at Paine Field with the effort to be led by Washington State University.
‘Perfect Location’
In the second announcement, Inslee and SAF producer Twelve announced the company will break ground next month on a Moses Lake plant to produce jet fuel from renewable electricity, water, and CO2 — which will be sourced from landfills and waste from food processing plants. The company has dubbed its fuel E-Jet.
“Commercial-scale production of E-Jet fuel is a major milestone in our mission of creating a world run on air,” Twelve CEO Nicholas Flanders said in a statement. “Washington is the perfect location for our facility, with its abundant renewable energy resources to power our carbon transformation process and longstanding global leadership in the aviation industry.”
SkyNRG recently announced plans to build a $800 million sustainable aviation fuels plant at an undisclosed location in Washington. It was encouraged by the state legislature passing a major tax break for such plants.
The new law sets a business-and-occupation tax rate of 0.275 percent for any plant that would produce annually at least 20 million gallons of low-carbon jet fuel. Most B&O tax rates in Washington range from 0.47 percent to 0.9 percent. A B&O tax is a tax on the business’ gross receipts.
The law’s purpose is to construct an alternative jet fuel plant in Washington. A few years ago, the predicted cost of building such a plant was at least $1 billion.