Southwest Airlines has launched a new subsidiary, dubbed Southwest Airlines Renewable Ventures (SARV), that is focused on creating additional opportunities for the low-cost carrier to obtain scalable sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Southwest is also making a $30 million investment in LanzaJet Inc as part of the SARV investment portfolio. Based in Deerfield, Illinois, LanzaJet is a sustainable fuels technology company that has developed patented ethanol-to-SAF technology and operates an ethanol-to-SAF production plant in Georgia.
Southwest considers SAF to be a critical component in its effort to replace 10 percent of its total jet fuel consumption with SAF by the year 2030. Securing additional SAF is also a key pillar of Southwest’s Nonstop to Net Zero plan, which outlines the airline’s approach toward sustainability in order to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Southwest intends to continue working with SAF producers to enter into SAF offtake agreements, while SARV focuses on managing Southwest’s SAF-related investments, including a previously announced equity investment in SAFFiRE Renewables.
Based in North Dakota, SAFFiRE has been working with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and has a license agreement and certain exclusivity rights to certain technology for the production of cellulosic ethanol. This technology is an important component in converting corn stover, an agricultural residue feedstock, to cellulosic ethanol that can then be converted to SAF using LanzaJet’s technology.
As part of its agreement with Southwest, LanzaJet intends to build an ethanol-to-SAF facility to produce SAF, primarily for Southwest’s own use. The planned facility is to include capabilities to convert SAFFiRE cellulosic ethanol into SAF.
In addition to SAFFiRE and LanzaJet, Southwest has also established partnerships with a number of other SAF producers, suppliers, and logistic companies. These include Marathon Petroleum, Neste, Phillips 66, and Velocys.
Raymond Jaworowski currently co-authors three of Forecast International's best-selling products: Civil Aircraft Forecast, Military Aircraft Forecast, and Rotorcraft Forecast. As a contributor to Aviation Week & Space Technology's Aerospace Source Book, he has authored Aircraft Outlooks, and provided input for the publication's Aircraft Specifications tables. Raymond has represented Forecast International at numerous conferences and trade shows, often as a featured speaker. He is a member of the American Helicopter Society.
