(Posted 25th July 2024)
Airbus is investing in LanzaJet, a leading sustainable fuels technology company and producer, in line with its ambition to act as a catalyst for the global development of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF).
This investment will support the development of the Alcohol-to-Jet (ATJ) pathway, an important step required to produce SAF at scale by enabling LanzaJet to further expand its capability and capacity to scale its proprietary Ethanol to Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) process technology.
“Sustainable aviation fuels are one of the most important levers available to decarbonise aviation, but their production is still limited. Our partnership with LanzaJet demonstrates Airbus’ commitment to work with leading energy technology suppliers to explore innovative production pathways and scale SAF,” said Julie Kitcher, Chief Sustainability Officer at Airbus. “This important partnership with LanzaJet underlines the importance of new technologies and cross-sector collaboration to achieve net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050.”
“LanzaJet intentionally developed a diverse portfolio of strategic investors consisting of leading, global companies to ensure we have the ecosystem to scale the SAF industry,” said Jimmy Samartzis, Chief Executive Officer of LanzaJet. “This important investment from Airbus supports the growth of our company, enabling LanzaJet to scale the production and deployment of SAF to continue working towards meeting aviation’s decarbonization goals and developing a more sustainable industry.”
LanzaJet’s technology uses low-carbon ethanol to create SAF that reduces greenhouse gas emissions by more than 70% percent compared to fossil fuels on a lifecycle basis and can further decrease emissions with a suite of carbon reduction technologies. SAF produced through LanzaJet’s ATJ technology is an approved drop-in fuel compatible with existing aircraft engines and associated infrastructure.
LanzaJet is currently starting up the world’s first commercial-scale production of ethanol-to-SAF at LanzaJet Freedom Pines Fuels. Located in the United States, the plant will be producing SAF and renewable diesel from low-carbon and sustainable ethanol and serves as a blueprint to scale SAF production. With projects spanning 25 countries and 5 continents, LanzaJet is working to scale ethanol-to-jet globally, and partnering with key players across the SAF value chain.
Meanhile has Airbus, the Air France-KLM Group, Associated Energy Group, LLC, BNP Paribas, Burnham Sterling, Mitsubishi HC Capital Inc. and Qantas Airways Limited also co-invested in a Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) financing fund to accelerate the production of SAF.
The corporate partners worked with investment manager Burnham Sterling Asset Management to establish the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Financing Alliance (SAFFA) investment fund in which Airbus is the Anchor Investor. The commitment from the seven partners is amounting to an aggregate of approx. US$200 million.
Each partner brings experience and financial expertise to the fund with the ambition to accelerate the availability of SAF by investing mainly in technologically mature SAF-producing projects using for instance waste-based feedstocks. Investments will be diversified across various SAF’s production pathways and also by region.
Each partner may then enter into priority contracts to secure SAF offtakes from the various projects SAFFA will invest in, for its allocated volumes. SAFFA is focusing on SAF that is eligible for RefuelEU Aviation(1) or CORSIA(2) (Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation) certification.
SAFFA made its first investment in Crysalis Biosciences, a tech company dedicated to renewing U.S. chemical manufacturing infrastructure with innovative fuel and chemical production technologies.
The company’s recent accomplishments include the acquisition and renovation of the Monarch facility, an ethanol plant located in Sauget, Illinois, USA, which was shuttered in 2019. As of the first quarter of 2024, the plant has completed the upgrades and received the necessary environmental authorizations to resume operations with the aim to produce low carbon intensity SAF and biochemicals.
