LanzaJet has opened LanzaJet Freedom Pines Fuels, the world’s first ethanol to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production facility.
Located in Soperton, Georgia, LanzaJet Freedom Pines Fuels represents one of the most promising SAF technologies in nearly a decade to reach commercial readiness, and will produce 10 million gallons of SAF and renewable diesel per year from low carbon, sustainable, and certified ethanol which meets U.S. and global standards, according to a news release.
LanzaJet’s technology enables current and future supply volume to support a scaled SAF industry as well as the White House’s SAF Grand Challenge, which calls for a supply of at least 3 billion gallons of SAF annually by 2030 to tangibly reduce aviation emissions. With its proprietary ethanol to SAF technology, LanzaJet Freedom Pines Fuels serves as a blueprint for utilizing first-of-its-kind innovation to scale SAF production and combat the worsening climate crisis.
LanzaJet’s Freedom Pines Fuels plant represents the culmination of a history of firsts within the SAF industry, dating back to its origin in 2010 as the first ethanol to SAF technology to have derived in collaboration with the Pacific Northwest National Lab (PNNL), the company said. The technology’s first commercial flights were completed with Virgin Atlantic and All Nippon Airways (ANA) in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
LanzaJet was joined at Wednesday’s event by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk, Georgia Public Service Commissioner Tim Echols, Treutlen County Commissioner Phil Jennings, and Soperton Mayor John Koon.
Additionally, the opening of Freedom Pines Fuels also featured LanzaJet shareholders International Airlines Group (IAG), LanzaTech, Mitsui & Co, Shell, and Suncor Energy and investors such as the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund, Breakthrough Energy, British Airways, and All Nippon Airways (ANA).
LanzaJet Freedom Pines Fuels is fully funded and has committed offtake agreements for all fuel produced in the next 10 years.