UK government awards LanzaTech $31M grant for DRAGON project

In the UK, plans for the world’s first commercial-scale factory to transform waste gases into sustainable jet fuel have moved a step closer today. LanzaTech UK Ltd., a subsidiary of LanzaTech NZ, Inc. has announced that its DRAGON facility project has received a £25M (~$31M) grant from the UK Department for Transport’s Advanced Fuels Fund Competition. LanzaTech’s Project DRAGON, which stands for Decarbonizing and Reimagining Aviation for the Goal Of Netzero, will convert waste gases into synthetic kerosene for use in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

With the funding, Project DRAGON will complete engineering and the project development in collaboration with Fluor Corporation and Technip Energies, required to reach a final investment decision (FID) for the entire waste gas to SAF project. The proposed plant, which will be sited in Port Talbot, South Wales, is expected to produce 102 million litres per year of ATJ Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene (ATJ-SPK) to be blended with kerosene to make SAF, representing ~1% of annual UK jet fuel demand and making a significant contribution towards the UK Mandate for supplying 10% of total annual jet fuel demand in the U.K. with SAF by 2030.