LanzaTech, a leading biotech company and carbon recycler, has successfully launched LanzaJet Inc., a new company that will produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for a sector requiring climate friendly fuel options as it starts to recover from the impacts of COVID-19. With its approach to commercialization of SAF, LanzaJet is creating regional jobs while enabling global decarbonization of the aviation sector.

Canada’s leading integrated energy company Suncor Energy Inc. and leading Japanese trading and investment company Mitsui & Co. Ltd. are investing $15 million and $10 million, respectively, to establish LanzaJet. The funding will be used to build a demonstration plant that will produce 10 MMgy of SAF and renewable diesel starting from sustainable ethanol sources. Production is expected to start in early 2022. This initial investment coupled with participation from All Nippon Airways will complement the existing $14 million grant from the U.S. DOE, enabling the construction of an integrated biorefinery at LanzaTech’s Freedom Pines site in Soperton, Georgia.

In addition to its equity investment, Suncor has contracted to take a significant portion of the SAF and renewable diesel produced at the facility to provide its jet fuel and distillate customers with sustainable energy solutions.

Importantly, investors Suncor and Mitsui are aiming to invest further in the construction of commercial production facilities after the demonstration meets all its technical and economic targets. This novel, phased investment approach will see the initial investment followed by a capital call once all the demonstration milestones have been met. This will significantly accelerate commercial deployment at a time when reducing emissions, especially of aviation, is increasingly important and demonstrates a joint commitment to creating a resilient, climate secure future.

“Suncor is excited to join LanzaTech, Mitsui and ANA in helping LanzaJet take off,” said Mark Little, president and CEO of Suncor. “We believe this technology will provide a solid foundation for the commercial production of sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel. These products are very complementary to our existing product mix and we see growth potential in both North American and international markets. Suncor is committed to both a low-carbon future for our own business and to helping our customers, including in the space of commercial aviation, realize their own vision of a sustainable future.”

Toru Matsui, managing officer and chief operating officer of Mitsui, said, “We are pleased to launch LanzaJet along with excellent partners LanzaTech, Suncor and ANA. This partnership demonstrates our continuing commitment to improving the sustainability of the aviation industry and supports our ambition to be the first in Japan to produce SAF on a commercial scale. The SAF produced by LanzaJet will support the development of a global SAF supply chain, which has the potential to significantly reduce emissions from aviation and help to create a low carbon society.”

Akihiko Miura, executive vice president of ANA, said, “ANA is thrilled to work alongside LanzaTech, Mitsui and Suncor on this new venture. We believe that this partnership is a great step forward for carbon-neutral growth initiatives. ANA is happy to share in this innovative endeavor and to be a part of a carbon-free future in the aviation industry.”

Industry leader Jimmy Samartzis has joined as CEO, bringing a background in clean energy, public policy, infrastructure and sustainability, as well as a decade at United Airlines including multiple executive roles in operations, commercial, corporate affairs, strategy, renewables and safety. Currently serving as a director on the board for the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, he has held various industry roles, including with Airlines for America and the International Air Transport Association, and advised the World Travel and Tourism Council.

“The launch of LanzaJet marks an historic milestone in the clean energy transition that is underway globally,” Samartzis said. “I’ve been part of many renewable energy and sustainability firsts over the last decade, and this one is the most exciting. The commercialization of LanzaJet—built on the shoulders of LanzaTech, Suncor, Mitsui, ANA and with the support of the U.S. Department of Energy—gives our world, and aviation in particular, an important solution in shaping a cleaner future.”  

The LanzaJet process can use any source of sustainable ethanol for jet fuel production, including, but not limited to, ethanol made from recycled pollution, the core application of LanzaTech’s carbon recycling platform. Commercialization of this process, called Alcohol-to-Jet (AtJ), has been years in the making, starting with the partnership between LanzaTech and the DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. PNNL developed a unique catalytic process to upgrade ethanol to alcohol-to-jet synthetic paraffinic kerosene (ATJ-SPK), which LanzaTech took from the laboratory to pilot scale.

“Achieving our global climate goals requires scaling new, transformative technologies rapidly,” said Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of LanzaTech. “This requires new methods of financing that enable scaling from lab to pilot to demo to commercial without stopping after each step to raise more cash. Suncor, Mitsui and ANA are stepping up to show that achieving meaningful scale will require new technologies, new business models and new approaches. I am delighted to see LanzaJet take off and to see Jimmy Samartzis lead the team as it brings this sustainable solution to market.”