Breakthrough Energy makes first Catalyst funding in LanzaJet

Breakthrough Energy revealed its first Catalyst project funding will go to LanzaJet’s Freedom Pines Fuels sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant.
The facility in Soperton, Georgia, will receive a $50 million (€51 million) grant. Breakthrough Energy Catalyst is a programme that brings together corporate and philanthropic organisations to accelerate the deployment of essential technologies by funding key first-of-a-kind commercial-scale projects.
Projected to be operational in 2023, LanzaJet’s Freedom Pines Fuels project is the firm’s first commercial-scale SAF plant and will be the first in the world to produce Alcohol-to-Jet SAF, which will lower emissions by at least 70% compared to fossil jet fuel.
Once fully operational, this plant will play a critical role in scaling SAF production and bringing lower-cost sustainable fuels to market.
The plant is expected to produce nine million gallons of SAF and one million gallons of renewable diesel annually.
Construction of the plant will enable the significant scale-up of LanzaJet’s technology within the US and globally, with subsequent projects already in the planning phase in North America, Europe, and Asia that, together, would produce more than one billion gallons of SAF annually.
“Breakthrough Energy Catalyst is a new way for the private sector to accelerate the clean energy transition by funding projects that will ensure essential climate solutions get to market on the timeline the world needs,” said Rodi Guidero, executive director, Breakthrough Energy and managing partner, Breakthrough Energy Ventures. “LanzaJet’s new sustainable aviation fuel plant could play a vital role in decarbonizing aviation while demonstrating how the jobs and businesses of the clean energy economy can power communities. We’re grateful to Catalyst’s partners, who understand climate leadership means supporting the technologies that will eliminate emissions and that solving our climate challenges will require nothing less than mobilising the world’s economic engine to build a net-zero future.”