Southwest Airlines Invests $30M in LanzaJet to Build SAF Production Facility and Decarbonize Aviation Industry
LanzaJet has received a $30 million investment from Southwest Airlines to develop a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production facility and collaborate to advance the operations of Southwest’s corn stover to ethanol technology company – SAFFiRE Renewables.
The announcement comes shortly after Southwest Airlines announced it had launched Southwest Airlines Renewable Ventures (SARV) – a wholly-owned subsidiary dedicated to creating opportunities for Southwest to obtain SAF and meet its goal of replacing 10% of its total jet fuel consumption with SAF by 2030.
“Our launch of SARV and our investment in LanzaJet demonstrate that we are not sitting on the sidelines. Rather, we’re in the game by taking proactive, disciplined steps toward securing affordable SAF for Southwest as we continue to march toward our goal of net zero by 2050,” said Bob Jordan, President and CEO of Southwest Airlines.
LanzaJet will undertake project development efforts for the SAF biorefinery production facility in the US, and Southwest will be the anchor SAF off-taker.
The biorefinery will utilize LanzaJet’s technology, which is capable of scaling production to the levels required to decarbonize aviation through widely available and sustainable feedstock, commercial residue-based feedstock solutions, and promising economics.
LanzaJet will also support Southwest’s efforts to commercialize its SAFFiRE technology and enable the opportunity to convert SAFFiRE’s cellulosic ethanol into SAF.
Through Southwest’s SAFFiRE technology, the company can convert corn stover – a widely available agricultural residue feedstock – into cellulosic ethanol that can be converted into SAF using LanzaJet’s technology.
“The alignment of Southwest and LanzaJet is a powerful combination that has the potential to integrate the SAF value chain and to double-down on the US ethanol, aviation, and biofuel industries,” said Jimmy Samartzis, CEO of LanzaJet. “Our work together will lead us closer to meeting aviation’s decarbonization goals by continuing to scale SAF production in the US while also tapping into the US ethanol industry’s potential to catalyze the next generation of SAF production.”
