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. 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. The pilot project is intended to validate the commercialization of this corn-stover-to-ethanol technology, which could lead to a follow-up phase. “Moving cutting-edge technological 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 Department of Energy is committed to turning our ambitious aviation decarbonization goals into realities through strong partnerships across the airline industry,” said U.S. 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 per cent of its total jet fuel consumption with SAF by 2030. 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.” “This is a unique opportunity to invest in what we believe could be a game-changing technology that could facilitate the replacement of up to approximately five per cent of our jet fuel with SAF by 2030, with the potential to significantly continue to scale beyond the decade. “SAF is critical for decarbonizing the aviation sector,” said Bob Jordan, Chief Executive Officer at Southwest.

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. READ: Ukraine’s President wants to build another AN-225

READ: Boeing will bounce back says world’s largest leasing company SEE the podcast: Flight Safety Detectives dissect the Netflix doco “Downfall”. According to NREL, this could produce significant quantities of cost-competitive SAF that could provide an 84 per cent reduction in carbon intensity compared to conventional jet fuel on a lifecycle basis. In 2021, the DOE awarded D3MAX the only pilot-scale grant for SAF production, with a goal to scale technology that could commercialize SAF.

Southwest has announced an investment into SAFFiRE Renewables, LLC as part of a Department of Energy (DOE)-backed project to develop and produce scalable, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).įunded 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.

Southwest airlines pilot