Finance, Industrial, Sourcing Renewables - March 1, 2024
Southwest Airlines Invests $30M in SAF
Southwest Airlines Co. made a $30 million investment into the development of a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production facility.
The airline signed an agreement with LanzaJet, Inc., a sustainable fuels technology company and sustainable fuels producer, for the investment.
The two companies also intend to work toward the development of a sustainable aviation fuel 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 will start project development efforts for the SAF production facility in the U.S., and Southwest will serve as the anchor offtaker.
The biorefinery is expected to utilize LanzaJet's technology, which is capable of scaling production to the levels needed to decarbonize aviation through widely available and sustainable feedstock and emerging commercial residue-based feedstock solutions.
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, in a statement. "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 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).
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