Southwest puts USD 30m in LanzaJet with SAF offtake plan

Illinois-based sustainable fuels company LanzaJet Inc has attracted a USD-30-million (EUR 27.7m) investment from Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV) and the two plan an ethanol-to-sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) facility to mainly supply Southwest.

LanzaJet said last week it will seek to develop the SAF plant in the US, with Southwest as the anchor SAF offtaker. The biorefinery is expected to use LanzaJet’s ethanol-based alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) technology.

As part of the agreement, LanzaJet and Southwest will also collaborate to advance SAFFiRE Renewables LLC, a corn stover to ethanol technology company in which Southwest is invested. The planned facility is intended to allow converting SAFFiRE’s cellulosic ethanol into SAF.

The news comes shortly after LanzaJet opened LanzaJet Freedom Pines Fuels, described as the world’s first ethanol to SAF production facility, in Soperton, Georgia. The plant will produce 10 million gallons of SAF and renewable diesel per year from low-carbon, sustainable and certified ethanol.

Together with the investment in LanzaJet, Southwest announced the launch of Southwest Airlines Renewable Ventures (SARV), a subsidiary set up to help the airline obtain scalable SAF. Southwest aims to replace 10% of its total jet fuel consumption with SAF by 2030.

Southwest is now part of LanzaJet’s investors and funders which include shareholders British Airways, LanzaTech, Mitsui & Co, Shell, and Suncor Energy and funders such as Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund, Breakthrough Energy and All Nippon Airways (ANA).

(USD 1 = EUR 0.922)

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