LanzaJet Announces $30 Million Investment from Southwest Airlines to Accelerate Company's Growth and Advance U.S. Sustainable Aviation Fuel Production

(LanzaJet/PR Newswire) LanzaJet Plans to Support Southwest Airlines with U.S. SAF Production and with Development of Ethanol from Agriculture Residue with SAFFiRE Renewables -- LanzaJet, Inc. (LanzaJet) a leading sustainable fuels technology company and sustainable fuels producer, today announced a $30 million investment by Southwest Airlines Co. (Southwest) in LanzaJet. As part of the agreement, LanzaJet and Southwest intend to work toward the development of a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production facility and collaborate to advance the operations of a corn stover to ethanol technology company in which Southwest is invested: SAFFiRE Renewables, LLC (SAFFiRE).

LanzaJet plans to undertake project development efforts for the SAF production facility in the United States, with Southwest as the anchor SAF offtaker. The biorefinery is expected to utilize LanzaJet's pioneering technology, which is capable of scaling production to the levels needed to decarbonize aviation through widely available and sustainable feedstock, emerging commercial residue-based feedstock solutions, and promising economics. LanzaJet will also support Southwest's efforts to commercialize SAFFiRE's technology that processes corn stover into ethanol.

"The U.S. is an incredibly important market for us – it's our home, where our technology originated and scaled, the site of our and the world's first commercial ethanol-to-SAF plant, and an important opportunity to support the existing U.S. biofuels and ethanol industries with our leading ethanol-to-SAF technology," said Jimmy Samartzis, Chief Executive Officer of LanzaJet. "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. Our work together will lead us closer to meeting aviation's decarbonization goals by continuing to scale SAF production in the United States, while also tapping into the U.S. ethanol industry's potential to catalyze the next generation of SAF production."

The U.S. facility to be developed by LanzaJet is also intended to enable the opportunity to convert SAFFiRE's cellulosic ethanol into SAF.

"We're taking the next step in our sustainability journey toward our goal of net zero by 2050," said Bob Jordan, President & CEO of Southwest Airlines. "We look forward to working with LanzaJet, which is developing potentially important technology that could create more opportunities for Southwest to obtain scalable SAF, a critical component in the success of our environmental sustainability goal to replace 10% of our jet fuel consumption with SAF by 2030."

Southwest's investment comes on the heels of the opening of LanzaJet Freedom Pines Fuels – the world's first commercial-scale ethanol-to-SAF plant. Located in Soperton, Georgia, the historic plant is anticipated to produce SAF and renewable diesel from low-carbon and sustainable ethanol which has International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC). LanzaJet Freedom Pines Fuels serves as a blueprint for utilizing first-of-its-kind innovation to scale SAF production and enables LanzaJet's aspiration for 1 billion gallons of SAF production by 2030.

Southwest joins LanzaJet's portfolio of investors and funders that includes 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).

LanzaJet is a leading sustainable fuels technology company dedicated to accelerating the clean energy transition. As a Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) technology provider and producer with patented ethanol-based alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) technology, LanzaJet is creating an opportunity for future generations by accelerating the deployment of SAF and other clean technologies critical to addressing the climate crisis and transforming the global economy. Further information is available at https://www.lanzajet.com/ READ MORE

Excerpt from Business Travel News Europe: Sustainable aviation fuel producer LanzaJet has secured further funding from software giant Microsoft to help it expand globally.

LanzaJet is pioneering the conversion of ethanol into SAF and opened a production facility in the US state of Georgia earlier this year, which will manufacture 10 million gallons of SAF and renewable diesel annually.

The US-based company, which is also backed by British Airways, has now secured more investment from the Microsoft's Climate Innovation Fund, which follows Microsoft’s previous funding of $50 million into LanzaJet in 2022. Further financial details of Microsoft’s latest investment were not revealed.

LanzaJet said the new funding would allow the company to “build its capability and capacity to deploy its sustainable fuels process technology globally”.

As part of the deal, Microsoft will also use its data and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to improve LanzaJet’s corporate functions and SAF production processes.

Jimmy Samartzis, CEO of LanzaJet, added: “Our continued alignment with Microsoft allows LanzaJet to build our team and capability at pace to support global deployment of our leading sustainable fuels process technology

“Through its support of LanzaJet's first-of-a-kind ethanol to SAF biorefinery, LanzaJet Freedom Pines Fuels, Microsoft has played a significant role in making SAF production a reality in the United States, and this investment reemphasises its urgent commitment to decarbonisation of hard-to-abate sectors."

The deal gives Microsoft access to sustainable fuels as well as SAF certificates on future LanzaJet projects. The technology firm wants to become carbon negative by 2030.

Last year, Microsoft agreed a 10-year contract with World Energy to buy SAF certificates, which allow corporates to reduce their CO2 emissions from business travel, even if the flights being used by travellers are not burning SAF in their engines. It has also agreed a deal to co-fund SAF purchases with British Airways’ parent company IAG.

Brandon Middaugh, senior director of Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund, added: “Microsoft is investing in partners who share our commitment to advancing a net-zero economy and who are building the market for critical solutions like SAF and renewable diesel.” READ MORE