Global leaders enabling the clean energy transition are attending the Clean Energy Ministerial and Action Forum in Pittsburgh this week. LanzaJet CEO Jimmy Samartzis is speaking on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and its critical role in accelerating the energy transition.
LanzaJet, Inc. is a global leader in clean energy technology and production. The LanzaJet ProcessTM is a proprietary alcohol-to-jet technology that converts low-carbon ethanol into sustainable transportation fuels, including SAF and renewable diesel. LanzaJet is deploying its technology in the U.S. and globally, with the world's first ATJ biorefinery under construction in Georgia.
LanzaJet CEO, Jimmy Samartzis, speaking at the Global Clean Energy Action Forum, stated,
"The momentum to facilitate the energy transition today is unlike ever before, and we have alignment across public and private sectors to build new industries and ensure the longevity and vitality of existing ones. We've believed that we're at an inflection point, and it's now obvious that we are – technology is scaling, government policy is increasingly in place, consumers are demanding, and financiers are investing. Now is the time to catalyze the energy transition."
SAF is the aviation industry's primary solution for reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. LanzaJet is partnering with investors, partners, and funders – All Nippon Airways, British Airways, LanzaTech, Microsoft, Mitsui & Co, Ltd., Suncor Energy, and Shell – to deploy its technology to rapidly increase the low-carbon supply of drop-in, SAF. LanzaJet's ambitions are anchored in more than 12 years of technology development and scale-up that started with LanzaTech and in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Lab (PNNL). LanzaJet has continued to make substantial progress:
LanzaJet Freedom Pines Fuels, the world's first ATJ biorefinery in Soperton, GA, is expected to be operational in 2023.
Alongside the White House in announcing the SAF Grand Challenge in 2021, LanzaJet announced it would strive to fulfill 1 billion gallons of the 3-billion-gallon U.S. target.
Since 2020, LanzaJet has announced projects totaling 300 million gallons of SAF and renewable diesel per year including in the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Central Europe, Canada, and Japan.
The LanzaJet ATJ platform provides substantial flexibility by working with various technologies on the front end to create low-carbon ethanol and to continue to build a waste-based ethanol industry.
All LanzaJet ATJ projects use low-carbon ethanol feedstocks including ethanol that leverages carbon capture and sequestration and sources such as woody waste, renewable energy, and industrial waste gases.
The aviation industry is responsible for approximately 3% of global carbon dioxide emissions. In 2021, airlines across the globe together committed to reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Commercial aviation uses more than 100 billion gallons of fossil-derived jet fuel a year, with SAF accounting for roughly 30 million gallons in 2021.
In 2021, LanzaJet committed to fulfilling one-third of the U.S. target by enabling the production of 1 billion gallons of SAF by 2030 using its industry-leading ATJ technology. As the U.S. prepares to launch its Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge Roadmap, LanzaJet reaffirms its commitment and doubles down on its promise.
Mr. Samartzis further noted,
"As we prepare for the production of SAF in Georgia and elsewhere in the U.S., in addition to plants planned in Europe, we are setting the foundation for global deployment of LanzaJet's technology and widespread production of sustainable aviation fuel over the next several years. The public and private sectors are working together to build this new industry and to ensure a healthier planet for our children. We will work collectively to secure our nation's supply chain and accelerate the production and use of sustainable, low-carbon fuels for the aviation industry."
