Jet fuel gets into Eagle County the same way gasoline does: by truck. Wayne McFarland thinks his company can shorten that trip for some of that fuel. McFarland is the CEO of SynTech Holdings, a company that can turn municipal waste into aviation fuel and other products. McFarland held a work session with the Eagle County Board of Commissioners to talk about putting a small plant at the Eagle County landfill to produce aviation fuel, and then trucking that fuel to the Eagle County Regional Airport.
Signature Aviation, the national firm that now operates the Vail Valley Jet Center, in early 2022 began using a blend of conventional and 鈥渟ustainable鈥� aviation fuel for its private aviation customers. That sustainable fuel, though, is trucked in from San Francisco.
Eagle County Manager Jeff Shroll told the commissioners he鈥檚 been looking for ways the county can participate in bringing a sustainable fuel supply closer to home. Over the past few years, Shroll said airline operators鈥� attitudes have gone from 鈥渘o way鈥� to 鈥渉ow can we participate?鈥�