Southwest Airlines invests $30M in LanzaJet

In Illinois, LanzaJet, Inc. announced a $30 million investment by Southwest Airlines Co. (Southwest) in LanzaJet. As part of the agreement, LanzaJet and Southwest intend to work toward the development of a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production facility and collaborate to advance the operations of a corn stover to ethanol technology company in which Southwest is invested: SAFFiRE Renewables, LLC (SAFFiRE).

LanzaJet plans to undertake project development efforts for the SAF production facility in the United States, with Southwest as the anchor SAF offtaker. The biorefinery is expected to utilize LanzaJet’s pioneering technology, which is capable of scaling production to the levels needed to decarbonize aviation through widely available and sustainable feedstock, emerging commercial residue-based feedstock solutions, and promising economics. LanzaJet will also support Southwest’s efforts to commercialize SAFFiRE’s technology that processes corn stover into ethanol.