LanzaJet has formally opened its pioneering Freedom Pines Fuels ethanol to sustainable aviation fuels facility in Soperton, Georgia. While SAF production currently is based around feedstocks such as waste oils and fats, LanzaJet says its ethanol-based alcohol-to-jet (AtJ) technology is the world’s first viable next-generation SAF technology capable of scaling production to the levels needed to decarbonise aviation. It will use feedstocks that include agricultural waste, municipal solid waste, energy crops and captured carbon from industrial processes. Under construction since 2022, production at Freedom Pines is due to start this quarter and at full capacity the facility will produce nine million gallons of SAF and  one million gallons of renewable diesel a year. Among LanzaJet’s backers and customers for the fuel are All Nippon Airways and British Airways, and is a partner with BA in a SAF production facility project in the UK.

“This is a historic milestone in a long history of firsts for LanzaJet, the United States and the SAF industry globally,” announced LanzaJet CEO Jimmy Samartzis at the opening. “Between feedstock versatility, efficiency and economics that enable scale in the US and globally, we stand ready to meet aviation’s decarbonisation goals established at the United Nations and country ambitions, such as the US SAF Grand Challenge.”

The Grand Challenge, which was launched in 2021 by the Department of Energy, Department of Transportation and US Department of Agriculture, calls for a supply of at least three billion gallons of SAF annually by 2030.

“The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to harnessing the full potential of SAF as we continue to build a strong economy that is sustainable, resilient, competitive and keeps rural places thriving,” said US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who attended the opening of Freedom Pines Fuels. “As we transition to SAF, this will help American companies such as LanzaJet corner the market of a valuable, emerging industry, while revitalising rural communities like Soperton with agriculture front and centre in the effort. LanzaJet’s facility will help accelerate the SAF industry and provide new economic opportunities for producers for a more sustainable future.”

LanzaJet, whose technology was developed by LanzaTech and the Pacific Northwest National Lab (PNNL) and claims to reduce GHG emissions by more than 70%, has secured investment both nationally and internationally. Shareholders include International Airlines Group (IAG), LanzaTech, Mitsui & Co, Shell and Suncor Energy, and has attracted investment from the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund, Breakthrough Energy, British Airways (BA) and All Nippon Airways (ANA).

The Freedom Pines facility is fully funded and has committed offtake agreements for all the fuel produced over the next 10 years. The company says it will have created more than 250 jobs and generate an estimated $70 million in annual economic activity for the local economy.

“As we start up the plant, we will continue to refine our technology, while launching our efforts to advance new sustainable fuels projects globally,” said Samartzis.

LanzaJet will use the same AtJ technology on ‘Project Speedbird’, a second-generation SAF production facility being developed by Nova Pangaea Technologies (NPT) in north-east England. Backed by British Airways and its parent IAG, construction of the new plant is expected to begin in 2025 and, through its patented REFNOVA process, NPT will convert woody and non-food derived agricultural wastes into ethanol, which will then be turned into SAF by the LanzaJet process. The facility, which is planned to be built by 2027 and at full capacity by 2028, will produce 27 million gallons of SAF per year, all of which will be purchased by BA.

Last November, the project was awarded £9 million ($11.2m) in funding under the UK government’s Advanced Fuels Fund competition.

“The Freedom Pines project acts as the blueprint for using LanzaJet’s innovative ethanol to SAF process technology here in the UK, starting with ‘Project Speedbird’, and shows how quickly the US is moving ahead,” said British Airways CEO Sean Doyle.

Added Luis Gallego, CEO of IAG, which has committed to flying on 10% SAF by 2030: “The LanzaJet ethanol-to-jet fuel plant in the US is a demonstration of how government support and investment in green technologies can help make aviation more sustainable. At IAG, we look forward to bringing LanzaJet’s technology to the UK, with Nova Pangaea, to help the UK meet its target of five SAF plants in construction by 2025.”

Photo (LanzaJet/British Airways): Opening of the LanzaJet Freedom Pines Fuel facility in Soperton, Georgia

Christopher Surgenor

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Two major airlines have announced plans to help offset their flight emissions with carbon removal credits from a new Direct Air Capture (DAC) facility being developed in the US. Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) was the first airline to sign a direct purchase agreement with Houston-based 1PointFive, while European low-cost carrier easyJet will acquire credits supplied by the same company, but sourced through the Airbus Carbon Capture Offer. Direct Air Carbon Capture and Storage (DACCS) uses large fans to filter and remove CO2 directly from the air, after which it is permanently stored in underground reservoirs. The 1PointFive facility, under construction in the Permian Basin oilfield in south-west Texas, will use carbon capture and storage technology developed by Canadian company Carbon Engineering, in which Airbus invested last year. ANA will acquire its carbon removal credits over three years, starting in 2025, while easyJet will do so between 2026 and 2029.

ANA will acquire a total of 30,000 metric tonnes of Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) credits, or 10,000 tonnes in each of three years, with the captured CO2 to be sequestered in saline reservoirs that are not used for oil or gas production.

“Reaching our goal of carbon neutrality is one of the key priorities for ANA, and we are actively diversifying our methods to pursue sustainability,” said the airline’s President and CEO, Shinichi Inoue. “As we continue to review and invest in sustainable and innovative technologies and processes that help further our mission, we look forward to seeing the positive impact that partnering with 1PointFive brings to our airline.”

Michael Avery, President of 1PointFive, welcomed the partnership with ANA, Japan’s largest airline group, as part of its broader decarbonisation strategy. “Direct Air Capture is a vital and scalable carbon removal technology that is necessary to help society achieve net zero,” he said. “The aviation industry can uniquely benefit from DAC as a pathway to removing carbon emissions securely, practically and on a large scale.”

United Airlines was an early entrant into DAC when it announced an investment in 1PointFive nearly three years ago.

Low-cost giant easyJet has become the first airline to sign up to the Airbus Carbon Capture Offer, through which the airframer offers verified carbon removal credits to help offset flight emissions.

Airbus invested in Carbon Engineering late last year, and over a four-year period will acquire 400,000 tonnes of carbon removal credits from 1PointFive, which is Carbon Engineering’s licensed US partner.

“Decarbonising a hard-to-abate sector such as aviation is a huge challenge,” said Thomas Haagensen, Group Markets Director at easyJet, which operates more than 300 Airbus A320-family jets on almost 1,000 routes in Europe. “We believe carbon removal will play an important role in addressing our residual emissions in the future, complementing other components to help us achieve our pathway to net zero.

“Our ultimate aim is to achieve zero carbon emission flying and as well as investing into important projects like direct air carbon capture technology, we are working with multiple partners, including Airbus, to accelerate the development of zero carbon emission aircraft technology.” 

The easyJet commitment follows an agreement last year in which it joined Air Canada, Air France-KLM, International Airlines Group, LATAM Airlines Group, Lufthansa Group and Virgin Atlantic to engage in negotiations on the possible pre-purchase of verified carbon removal credits, to be issued from 2025 by 1PointFive.

Supported by investors including Airbus and Air Canada, Carbon Engineering developed direct air capture technology at its research plant in Squamish, Canada. It is now targeting large-scale deployment, with 1PointFive using the technology to develop direct air capture infrastructure at megaton capacity, initially in the Permian Basin, and with plans for more sites.

“The Direct Air Capture facility, targeted to become operational in 2024 in the Permian Basin, is expected to capture up to 1 million tonnes of CO2 per year,” explained the companies. “This is roughly equivalent to the work, or absorption capacity, of approximately 40 million trees.”

Julie Kitcher, Airbus EVP Communications, Sustainability and Corporate Affairs, welcomed the deal with easyJet, which she described as “a strong advocate of decarbonisation.”

“This agreement demonstrates the airline’s willingness to extend its environmental commitment through Airbus’ Carbon Capture Offer,” she said. “Initiatives such as this one underline Airbus’ commitment to decarbonisation solutions for our industry, and to bringing together airlines and industry players from all sectors in order to build a sustainable aviation ecosystem.”

As part of its strategy to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, easyJet is focused on a mix of new technologies and operational efficiencies, and beyond Airbus has formed partnerships with Rolls-Royce, GKN Aerospace and Cranfield Aerospace Solutions. As an interim target, the airline is also pursuing a 35% reduction in emissions intensity by 2035, compared to 2019.

Top photo: Thomas Haagensen of easyJet and Wouter Van Wersch of Airbus at DACCS contract signing

Tony Harrington

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Amidst a forecast that contracted volumes of sustainable aviation fuel under offtake agreements could double this year, four significant SAF initiatives have been announced in the first weeks of 2023. Japan’s two biggest airlines, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways, have signed identical memorandums of agreement with industrial group ITOCHU Corporation and Raven SR, a US-based renewable fuels company, for 10-year deals to buy SAF produced from solid waste. Meanwhile in Europe, Lufthansa Group subsidiary Brussels Airlines has purchased 2 million litres of blended product from SAF producer Neste, the first supplies of which have been pumped direct to Brussels Airport via NATO’s pipeline system. Another Lufthansa company, the logistics group time:matters, has also announced that from this month it will purchase SAF for all of its Sameday Air and On Board Courier services, which distribute time-sensitive shipments ranging from industrial supplies to medical consignments.

The SAF for the two Japanese airlines initially will be produced by Raven in California from 2025, through the non-combustible conversion of waste to synthetic fuel. The process will use a patented ‘Steam-CO2 reforming technology’ to convert feedstocks including green and organic waste, municipal solid waste and methane from the latter.

In parallel announcements, Raven said each of the airline agreements provided for an initial 50,000 tons of SAF supply in 2025, with annual incremental rises ratchetting to 200,000 tons in 2034. Future production would be expanded to additional international locations served by both airlines outside Japan.

“By utilising local and regional waste, Raven SR’s distributive model produces fuels closer to market demand, leading to greater decarbonisation and addressing environmental issues caused by waste in specific regions,” said the company, which is also a member of the advisory board of the 4Aircraft European Programme, an international partnership exploring the conversion of recycled CO2 to SAF. 

Tokyo-based ITOCHU, which is focused on sustainable technologies and industries, invested in Raven in August 2021 to jointly produce and sell renewable fuels worldwide, and introduced the company to both airlines. “ITOCHU will continue to contribute to the realisation of a recycling-oriented society,” the company said, “as well as the United Nations sustainable development goals through the stable supply of SAF to leading airlines in Japan.”

Japan Airlines said the agreement with ITOCHU and Raven, together with existing offtake agreements with US SAF producers Aemetis and Gevo, would enable it to replace 1% of its fuel by the 2025 financial year, and 10% by 2030. “In the current situation where SAF supply is limited, JAL will contribute to the popularisation and market expansion of SAF and promote carbon neutrality in aviation by demonstrating the need for SAF produced from a variety of feedstocks, including used cooking oil, tallow and biomass, as well as waste products.”

For All Nippon Airways, the new partnership adds to a 2020 agreement with ITOCHU to procure Neste SAF produced from waste fats and oils. “As part of our climate transition strategies, ANA is dedicated to being an industry leader with our environmental commitments,” said Hideo Miyake, the airline’s Executive VP responsible for procurement.”

In Belgium, Brussels Airlines, a member of the Lufthansa Group, announced the purchase of 2 million litres of fuel – 2,000 barrels, each of 1,000 litres – containing a 38% blend of Neste SAF. The first supplies were pumped direct to Brussels Airport on New Year’s Day from the fuel producer’s blending facility in Ghent, the first time SAF has been transferred to the airport using NATO’s Central Europe Pipeline System (CEPS).  The total volume of fuel acquired in this transaction is equivalent to the maximum fuel capacity of 73 Airbus A320ceo jets, of which Brussels Airlines has 17. The first batch of SAF was used to fuel “a symbolic first flight” from Brussels to Malaga.

“To achieve our climate goals, we will have to drastically increase the use of alternatives to fossil fuels in the coming years,” said Brussels Airlines CEO Peter Gerber. “Next to fleet renewal, sustainable aviation fuel is the most effective tool currently available to reduce emissions from air travel. The fact that we can now transport the sustainable aviation fuel from the blending facility all the way to our aircraft at Brussels Airport in a fast and environmentally-friendly way is an important step to increase the use of this type of fuel in the near future.”

Brussels Airport is targeting 5% SAF in its kerosene imports by 2026, four years ahead of the same target by the EU. Within Project Stargate, a sustainable aviation initiative led by the airport, and engaging 22 stakeholders, a large-scale SAF blending plant was being explored, but is no longer necessary now that supplies can be pumped directly via the NATO pipeline. “This is an important milestone in making aviation more sustainable at Brussels Airport,” said its CEO, Arnaud Feist. “Having sustainable aviation fuel available at the airport has been a priority for us and we are pleased that, thanks to NATO’s support, this has now been realised.”

Neste welcomed this first use of the CEPS pipeline, Europe’s largest, to supply SAF to Brussels Airport and now expects increased use of the pipeline to supply other airports.

Also in Europe, Lufthansa Cargo subsidiary time:matters has committed to using SAF for all of its Sameday Air and On Board Courier services. In the past year, the global logistics business has offset 97% of its transport emissions, with the remaining 3% reduced through the use of SAF. By 2025, the company wants to reduce its own emissions by up to 50%, mainly by using SAF. The Sameday Air network covers 200 international destinations, and is supported by 21 participating airlines.

“There’s no alternative to sustainable logistics solutions,” said the company’s CEO, Alexander Kohnen. “As a logistics company, we’re contributing to climate change. At the same time, we consider the provision of time-critical transports a matter of life and death in some circumstances. Our focus is on three core activities. We will avoid potential emissions wherever possible, reduce current emission levels and offset unavoidable emissions. At the same time, we’re inviting our customers to act sustainably.”     

In its recent 2023 Outlook, international aircraft leasing company Avolon predicted the volume of SAF under offtake agreements by airlines will double from 40 billion litres of SAF to 80 billion this year.

Photo: Sho233531/Wikimedia

Two major industrial collaborations have been established in Japan to progress ambitions for large-scale production of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) in the country, writes Tony Harrington. In the first project, sponsored by Japan’s Ministry of the Environment, six prominent corporations have joined forces to demonstrate the extraction of carbon dioxide from industrial exhaust gases, and its conversion into SAF as part of a broader plan to also drive regional revitalisation through carbon recycling. The second involving four major corporations, supported by the government’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation (NEDO), will establish SAF commercial production by converting solid materials such as wood chips into fuel through a two-stage process of gasification and Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis, following a recent successful trial by Japan Airlines of woody biomass fuel on a domestic flight. Meanwhile, an IBA report estimates fuel efficiency per seat/km on Japanese domestic flights has improved significantly, largely through deployment of next-generation aircraft.  

The CO2 recycling, or E-fuels project, brings together Toshiba Energy Systems and Solutions Corporation, Toyo Engineering Corporation, Toshiba Corporation, Idemitsu Kosan, Japan CCS and All Nippon Airways to establish and demonstrate a process to collect and separate CO2, then transform it into SAF. Subject to finalising a contract with Toyo, UK-based Velocys said its FT synthesis technology would be used to convert gas to SAF in the project. Velocys will also demonstrate the diversity of feedstocks such as sustainable waste and biomass that can be used in conjunction with the FT technology to create SAFs. The project is scheduled to commence this month and continue until the end of March 2025.

The parallel project to convert solid biomass to fuel will be undertaken by a consortium of Toyo Engineering Corporation, JERA, Mitsubishi Power and ITOCHU Corporation. Velocys said it would also partner with Toyo in this programme, again using FT technology and other processes to efficiently convert woody biomass into SAF.

Velocys CEO Henrik Wareborn said the two projects highlighted the increasing momentum of the sustainable aviation fuel market. “Velocys is well-positioned to deliver its proprietary FT technology to biorefinery projects that convert a range of renewable feedstocks into the low carbon sustainable fuel that airlines need to meet their carbon reduction goals, without having to make any adjustment to engines or fuelling systems,” he said.  

Japan has long been a leader in the development and use of SAFs in the Asia Pacific region, and the government is intent on establishing large-scale domestic SAF production by 2030. The two biggest airline groups, All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL), have both been continuously active for more than a decade in encouraging, testing and investing in alternative fuels, as part of their broader decarbonisation strategies.

Since 2009, when Japan Airlines performed Asia’s first proving flight using SAF manufactured from the non-edible crop camelina, the carrier has continued to test a variety of blends, and in 2018 even initiated a project to produce sustainable fuel based on cotton obtained from 250,000 discarded garments, the first time SAF was fully produced in Japan. In June this year, JAL became the first airline to use SAF developed from gasified wood chips, synthesised by the Velocys FT process. And together with two major Japanese partners, the airline has invested in US-based SAF manufacturer Fulcrum BioEnergy . 

ANA too has long been focused on decarbonising its operations and recently blended microalgae into the fuel on a domestic flight. It has also entered a global fuel offtake partnership with SAF provider LanzaTech and has partnered with Finland’s Neste to enable access to SAF developed from renewable waste and residue raw materials.

The complex stages of the CO2-to-SAF project have been divided between the six partners in the consortium, who will leverage their respective strengths as follows:

• Toshiba Energy Systems to build and demonstrate a full-scale carbon dioxide electrolysis unit prototype, and conduct a review for a Power-to-Chemicals (P2C) plant;
• Toyo Corporation to create plans for an FT synthesis plant and a P2C plant;
• Toshiba Corporation to demonstrate the CO2 technology;
• Idemitsu Kosan to investigate a SAF certification scheme and standards, and create the basic plan for a SAF blending facility and quality control;
• Japan CCS to study the P2C demonstration plant site and regional cooperation plan; and
• ANA to conduct a study of the SAF market and fuel supply at airports.

For the second project, Toyo Engineering Corporation said it would undertake basic design of an FT synthesising facility in Japan; JERA would study applicable regulations, feedstock procurement, methods of mixing neat SAF with conventional jet fuel, and business feasibility; Mitsubishi would undertake basic design of a gasification facility; and ITOCHU would research supply logistics of SAF, by-products and by-product markets.

Meanwhile, a new report by aviation data group IBA has identified a 13% decline in CO2 emissions per seat, per kilometre, on Japanese domestic flights between January 2019 and June 2021.

While just over half of the survey period was blighted by the Covid-19 pandemic, and so impacting flight operations, IBA’s Senior Aviation Analyst Finlay Grogan, who authored the report, said the emissions reduction also reflected a tripling of the number of next-generation aircraft deployed on Japan’s domestic air routes.

The report said JAL had reduced emissions of its domestic flights by approximately 7% through deploying new Airbus A350-900 and Boeing 787-8 aircraft on high-capacity routes, replacing older, less-efficient Boeing 767-300s and 777-200s, the latter now retired by the airline.

Fleet renewal also enabled ANA and its low-cost division Peach to cut their emissions by more than 6% and 9% respectively through the introduction of Airbus A320neo jets to replace less-efficient A320ceo units, while ANA also exited older widebody jets.

ANA Wings was a standout in the IBA assessment, achieving a 13% cut in carbon emissions by replacing Boeing 737-500s with smaller, younger De Havilland Q400 turboprops.

The report said next-generation aircraft operated more than 16% Japanese internal flights in June 2021, compared to an average of just 5% through 2019, and said reductions would continue as the nation’s airlines continued to induct new narrowbody aircraft.

But beyond re-fleeting, Japan’s airlines have also reported significant additional emission reductions during the survey period from a range of operational initiatives including engine core washing, reduced use of auxiliary power units, optimised flight plans, continuous ascent and descent profiles, idle reverse thrust, single-engine taxi-in, optimised uplift of potable water supplies, the use of lightweight cargo containers, and even closing aircraft window shades while parked at airports to reduce the demand for air conditioning.   

Photo: ANA Wings achieved a 13% cut in carbon emissions by replacing Boeing 737-500s with De Havilland Q400 turboprops, says an IBA report

Japan’s two major airlines, All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL), each operated domestic commercial flights from Tokyo Haneda Airport on June 17 using sustainable aviation fuel produced in the country. The JAL flight, from Haneda to Sapporo used two different types of SAF in the jet fuel blend, one sourced from wood chips and the other from microalgae, while ANA used just microalgae in the fuel for its flight to Osaka Itami. The ASTM-certified SAF batches were produced under a project led by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), the Japanese national research and development agency. The JAL flight was the first in the world to use SAF derived from gasified wood chips synthesised into aviation fuel. It was produced in a Velocys Fischer-Tropsch (FT) reactor from the hydrogen and carbon gases generated by the gasification of the wood chips at a demonstration plant in Nagoya. A separate project between NEDO and IHI produced SAF for both flights from Hyper-Growth Botryococcus Braunii microalgae.

The fuels were produced under a project that ran from 2017 to 2020 with the aim of establishing technologies to produce inexpensive and reliable local commercial supplies of SAF by around 2030 to reduce aviation CO2 emissions. The NEDO project was tasked with finding ways to inexpensively collect algae with mass-culture technology and developing technology that stabilises the characteristics of gas for the gasification of wood chips.

The SAF derived from wood chips was produced under a collaboration by Toyo Engineering, Mitsubishi Power, JERA and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The demo plant (see diagram below) was constructed on the premises of JERA’s Shin-Nagoya Thermal Power Station, which was also responsible for raw material procurement, with the technology supplied by Mitsubishi Power and Toyo Engineering, and JAXA evaluating and testing the jet fuel’s combustion characteristics. UK-based Velocys secured an agreement with Toyo in September 2019 to supply its FT technology, equipment and catalyst for the demo facility. It also agreed to grant an exclusive right for Toyo to secure and use the licence and technical services of its technology for a future commercial plant in Japan.

The facility, according to Velocys, produced 2,366 litres of neat aviation fuel blendstock that was tested to ensure it met the required ASTM D7566 Annex 1 international standard.

Commenting on the JAL flight, which the company says was the first commercial flight in the world to use wood chip derived jet fuel, Velocys CEO Henrik Wareborn said: “SAF synthesised with Velocys FT technology from gasified forestry residue has a 70% lower carbon intensity than conventional fossil jet fuel. In addition, FT SAF offers significant additional air quality improvements, thanks to 90% lower particulate emissions, 99% lower sulphur emissions and lower nitrogen oxide emissions than conventional fossil fuels.”

Responded Toyo CEO Haruo Nagamatsu: “The Velocys technology demonstrated high efficiency and stable performance at the NEDO plant, and contributed to the production of high-quality SAF, green naphtha and green diesel.”

JAL carried out Asia’s first biofuel test flight in January 2009, using SAF made from the non-edible crop camelina. Since then, it has flown two flights from the United States to Tokyo using SAF in 2017 and 2019, and from June 2019 five delivery flights of new A350 aircraft from the Airbus plant in Toulouse have used SAF. In 2018, JAL launched a project to convert cotton clothing into locally produced SAF and in February this year operated the first domestic flight to use locally sourced SAF.

The airline is an investor in US SAF producer Fulcrum BioEnergy and is planning to use SAF on flights departing North America and says it is conducting a feasibility study with domestic companies on manufacturing and selling SAF in Japan made from waste plastic.

The SAF used on the Tokyo-Sapporo flight totalled 3,132 litres, including the microalgae-derived fuel, representing a 9.1% blend with conventional fuel. JAL says this was the first time two different types of SAF had been used on the same flight.

IHI’s microalgae project started in 2017 and algal culture tests have taken place in Kagoshima and Thailand. The fuel produced was approved in May 2020 under new Annex 7 of ASTM D7566, the first time a Japanese corporation as an applicant has obtained the international standard. The company said it would continue to study the formation of a supply chain for producing and supplying fuel from the feedstock, and aims to commercialise the fuel “as soon as possible”.

ANA announced in April a net zero emissions goal for 2050, with an interim 2030 target of carbon emissions from aircraft operations being less than or equal to 2019. The increased use of SAF “will be at the core” of CO2 emission reduction measures, said the airline. In 2019, ANA signed a SAF offtake agreement with LanzaTech, which was expanded in 2020 that gives it the opportunity to participate in a fuel offtake across LanzaJet’s global portfolio and production (see article). Last November also saw ANA signing an agreement with SAF producer Neste that included a first delivery of Neste SAF sourced from renewable waste and residue raw materials, which was used on ANA flights from Tokyo (see article).

Photo: JAL A350 readied for Tokyo-Sapporo SAF flight