Southwest Airlines Invests in Sustainable Aviation Fuel Pilot Project Supported by the Department of Energy

June 01, 2022

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(Southwest Airlines/PR Newswire) Carrier's first-of-its-kind investment supports the development of technology intended to commercialize sustainable aviation fuel -- Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) ("Southwest" or the "Company") today announces an investment into SAFFiRE Renewables, LLC (SAFFiRE), a company formed by D3MAX, LLC (D3MAX), as part of a Department of Energy (DOE)-backed project to develop and produce scalable, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Funded with a DOE grant matched by Southwest's investment, SAFFiRE is expected to utilize technology developed by the DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to convert corn stover, a widely available waste feedstock in the U.S., into renewable ethanol that then would be upgraded into SAF.

In 2021, the DOE awarded D3MAX the only pilot-scale grant for SAF production, with a goal to scale technology that could commercialize SAF. According to NREL, this could produce significant quantities of cost-competitive SAF that could provide an 84 percent reduction in carbon intensity compared to conventional jet fuel on a lifecycle basis. Southwest's match of the DOE's grant supports phase one of the project, which is expected to include technology validation, preliminary design, and a business plan for a pilot plant.

"SAF is critical for decarbonizing the aviation sector," said Bob Jordan, Chief Executive Officer at Southwest^®. "This is a unique opportunity to invest in what we believe could be game-changing technology that could facilitate the replacement of up to approximately five percent of our jet fuel with SAF by 2030, with the potential to significantly continue to scale beyond the decade. This first-of-its-kind investment is another step we are taking to address our environmental impact, and it also supports our efforts to partner with organizations and government entities to help our industry reach the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050."

In 2021, Southwest set a near-term goal to maintain carbon neutrality to 2019 levels while continuing to grow its operations, part of which includes replacing 10 percent of its total jet fuel consumption with SAF by 2030.

In addition to complementing Southwest's SAF goals and broader environmental sustainability efforts, this project supports the federal government's climate strategy, including an ambition for three billion gallons of SAF by 2030 through the SAF Grand Challenge.

"The Department of Energy is committed to turning our ambitious aviation decarbonization goals into realities through strong partnerships across the airline industry," said U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk. "Moving cutting-edge technology advances in sustainable aviation to production scale will save money, reduce carbon emissions, and reshape the future of the airline travel for the benefit of American consumers."

The pilot project is intended to validate the commercialization of this corn-stover-to-ethanol technology, which could lead to a follow-up phase. If phase one is successful, DOE and Southwest would have the opportunity to fund a second phase investment for the design, fabrication, installation, and operation of a pilot plant producing renewable ethanol utilizing technology developed by D3MAX and NREL. In phase two, the renewable ethanol is planned to be upgraded into SAF by LanzaJet, Inc., at its biorefinery currently under construction in Soperton, Georgia.

"We are extremely excited to be working with Southwest Airlines—they will be a great investor," said Mark Yancey, CEO of SAFFiRE. "SAFFiRE technology is expected to produce lower carbon SAF compared to conventional jet fuel on a lifecycle basis, which could become carbon negative with process improvements and carbon capture. If we are successful in developing and commercializing this technology, we project the technology can produce 7.5 billion gallons per year of SAF by 2040."

"NREL is thrilled to contribute its research and development expertise in biofuels to this exciting collaboration with Southwest Airlines, D3MAX, and DOE to potentially bring SAF to the market quickly and economically," said Adam Bratis, Associate Laboratory Director of BioEnergy Sciences & Technology at NREL.

Southwest is one of the most honored airlines in the world and remains focused on promoting a healthier planet, but the Company can't accomplish that alone. As described in its 10-Year Environmental Sustainability Plan, Southwest's plans to reduce, replace, offset, and partner are important next steps in the journey to build a holistic approach to improve its environmental sustainability. Learn more about these efforts by visiting swa.is/planetplan.

Southwest's Focus on Environmental Sustainability

In October 2021 established a plan of action to reduce Southwest's carbon emissions intensity by at least 20 percent by 2030¹ and maintain carbon neutral growth every year through the end of the decade.
Announced multiple offtake agreements and memoranda of understanding with sustainable aviation fuel producers.
In October 2021, Southwest announced the first U.S.-based carbon offset option where individual customers can contribute towards offsetting Southwest's carbon emissions.²
Joined the Vision 2045 campaign, a collaboration among multiple organizations and companies to share films and resources that aim to inspire businesses and people to take action toward a more sustainable future. Southwest content showcased how the Company is making sustainability a priority through a series of near-term actions and long-term goals.
Launched opportunities for Southwest^® Business Customers to support and advance sustainability initiatives within their corporate travel portfolios.
Committed $10 million to Yale University's Center for Natural Carbon Capture to research technological advancements and find new solutions to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions.
Joined the Aviation Climate Taskforce, a new nonprofit founded with a goal to tackle the challenges of reducing carbon emissions in aviation.

¹ As compared to 2019, includes scope 1 and 2 emissions and the use of sustainable aviation fuel, and excludes the use of carbon offsets

² All offsets will be retired in the name of Southwest Airlines Co. Terms and conditions apply.

About SAFFiRE Renewables, LLC
SAFFiRE is an acronym for Sustainable Aviation Fuel From [i] Renewable Ethanol. Formed in 2022, SAFFiRE Renewables, LLC intends to first pilot, and then commercialize if the pilot is successful, proprietary technology to convert waste biomass like corn stover into renewable ethanol. SAFFiRE expects to exclusively license technology from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and D3MAX, LLC that, when combined, will enable the production of low-cost, low-carbon renewable ethanol. The renewable ethanol would then be upgraded into fully certified sustainable aviation fuel, utilizing alcohol-to-jet technology applied by prospective SAF producers. Learn more at http://www.saffirerenewables.com/.

ABOUT SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO.
Southwest Airlines Co. operates one of the world's most admired and awarded airlines, offering its one-of-a-kind value and Hospitality at 121 airports across 11 countries. Celebrating its 50^th Anniversary in 2021, Southwest took flight in 1971 to democratize the sky through friendly, reliable, and low-cost air travel and now carries more air travelers flying nonstop within the United States than any other airline¹. Based in Dallas and famous for an Employee-first corporate Culture, Southwest maintains an unprecedented record of no involuntary furloughs or layoffs in its history. By empowering its nearly 59,000² People to deliver unparalleled Hospitality, the maverick airline cherishes a passionate loyalty among as many as 130 million Customers carried a year. That formula for success brought industry-leading prosperity and 47 consecutive years³ of profitability for Southwest Shareholders (NYSE: LUV). Learn more at Southwest.com/citizenship about how Southwest Airlines leverages a unique legacy and mission to serve communities around the world.  

1) U.S. Dept. of Transportation most recent reporting of domestic originating passengers boarded 

2) fulltime-equivalent active Employees  

3) 1973-2019 annual profitability

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SAFFiRE Sustainable Aviation Fuel Project Earns Government-Industry Boost (National Renewable Energy Laboratory)

DOE Partners on Sustainable Aviation Fuel Biorefinery with D3MAX, Southwest Airlines, LanzaJet and NREL (U.S. Department of Energy)

Excerpt from National Renewable Energy Laboratory: The planned 10-ton-per-day pilot plant project, Sustainable Aviation Fuel From [i] Renewable Ethanol, or SAFFiRE, involves D3MAX LLC, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), Southwest Airlines, NREL, LanzaJet, and other partners. The results could help make the goals of the multiagency Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge a reality.

“NREL’s many years of expertise converting biomass into fuels and chemicals is crucial to SAFFiRE’s goal of achieving an annual production capacity of 7 billion gallons of sustainable, low-carbon aviation fuel by 2040,” said Mark Yancey, project principal investigator (PI), NREL alumnus, and SAFFiRE Renewables CEO.

“SAFFiRE is the capstone of several NREL applied science projects,” said Michael Himmel, project co-PI and NREL senior research fellow. “It plans to turn an agricultural waste product of little value—corn stover—into profitable and environmentally friendly fuels.” What makes the project so unique is the combination of D3MAX’s commercial sugar production and ethanol fermentation technology and NREL’s patent-pending deacetylation and mechanical refining process, or DMR.

NREL’s DMR alkaline biomass pretreatment step, coupled with enzymes from Novozymes, essentially seeks to solve the problem of how to efficiently break down corn stover waste to sugars that can then be converted to fuels. Unlike acidic pretreatment, DMR operates under low temperature and low pressure, does not produce toxic byproducts, and is therefore more reliable and less expensive than other methods. SAFFiRE could be positioned to take advantage of the infrastructure of more than 200 existing ethanol plants and equipment already found on many farms across the nation.

Diagram showing corn stover being processed via incline conveyor for deacetylation, then through disk refining, enzymatic hydrolysis, fermentation, ethanol separation, catalytic upgrading to jet fuel, oligomerization, and on to the final product, sustainable aviation fuel. — *This process diagram depicts the D3MAX SAFFiRE project for production of sustainable aviation fuels from corn stover using NREL's deacetylation and mechanical refining technology.*

“Southwest Airlines is thrilled to partner with NREL, DOE, and D3MAX to advance what could be game-changing technology to be used by SAFFiRE,” said Michael AuBuchon, senior director Fuel Supply Chain Management at Southwest Airlines. “This first-of-its-kind investment for Southwest furthers our commitment to support the commercialization of affordable, lower-carbon SAF—on a life-cycle basis compared to conventional jet fuel—which can help the aviation industry reach its ultimate goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.”

NREL scientists already proved the process is effective in the lab and at small pilot scale—techno-economic and life-cycle analysis shows that the SAF from SAFFiRE could be less expensive than petroleum-based jet fuel and could reduce aviation greenhouse gas emissions by up to 84% compared to conventional jet fuel.

Nancy Dowe, the lead fermentation scientist on the project, has worked with Himmel on the project since its inception. NREL researcher Xiaowen Chen, the lead pretreatment process engineer, was a key innovator of the DMR process along with Himmel, Melvin Tucker, and Rick Elander. Tucker and Elander are both recently retired from NREL.

"In the next 3 1/2 years we will work to demonstrate that this technology is ready for commercialization,” Himmel said.

Lincolnway Energy, a corn ethanol plant located in Nevada, Iowa, plans to host the SAFFiRE pilot project. “Integration of the SAFFiRE process with existing ethanol plants is a key aspect of our commercialization plan,” Yancey said. SAFFiRE’s plan is to ship the finished renewable ethanol product to LanzaJet’s alcohol-to-jet facility in Georgia where it will be converted to SAF. The goal is that the SAF could be used to fuel future Southwest Airlines flights.

Funds were initially provided in 2021 through BETO’s “Scale-up Funding Opportunity.” The recent addition of a 50% investment match from Southwest Airlines could help speed up the steps to get from large-scale pilot testing to market, thus making the commercial production of SAF from biomass more likely in the not-so-distant future. READ MORE