Crops and sustainable aviation fuel—probably not something you think about every day. Alice Henry, co-founder of Regenrate took a deep dive into why cover crops, which provide amazing benefits to farmers and farmland, are not more widely used. No big surprise—it’s about the money. Planting cover crops costs money, and the business model of carbon credits isn’t enough to nudge farmers.

Enter the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) market, where there is both money and massive demand due to changing European and global regulations. That means working with big oil majors and helping fossil fuel giants decarbonize. But aviation, in particular, needs to decarbonize quickly. We’re not flying any less—probably more—and electric aircraft are coming, but not fast enough and in too limited a capacity.

Enter non-food and non-feed competing cover crops, grown on land that would otherwise be bare, keeping more living roots in the ground for much more of the year. Regenrate aims to turning cover cropping from a cost into a revenue-generating practice.