SOPERTON — Greenhouse gas emissions from some parts of the global economy have flattened in recent years, but the aviation industry has remained a stubborn contributor to climate change.
Apart from a major dip caused by the grounding of flights during the COVID-19 pandemic, emissions from air travel had been growing about 2% a year since the 1990s — and could reach a new high as soon as 2025, according to some estimates.
But a new facility opening in rural southeast Georgia promises a solution to the problem: jet fuel produced with biofuel derived from corn and other agricultural feedstocks.
LanzaJet, an Illinois-based fuel technology company, celebrated the grand opening of its new sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production facility in Soperton on Wednesday. The plant, located off Interstate 16 about halfway between Macon and Savannah, is the world’s first commercial production facility that can convert ethanol into SAF.
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Aviation is a significant — and growing — contributor to climate change, accounting for roughly 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions and 12% of all transportation emissions, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Startups around the world, including in Georgia, are developing electric aircraft and other technologies to try to make air travel cleaner. But SAFs have also garnered the attention and backing of several major airlines, investors and the federal government.
Nearly all of the fuel burned by airplanes crisscrossing the planet is derived from fossil fuels pulled from the ground. SAFs, on the other hand, can be made from corn, food and yard waste, woody biomass and even used cooking oils. If SAF is produced with corn farmed sustainably to store carbon in the soil or with other materials that would otherwise go to waste, they can reduce overall emissions compared to traditional jet fuels.
At LanzaJet’s facility, ethanol produced from a variety of feedstocks will be trucked in. A series of chemical processes that will take place inside the maze of tanks and pipes on the site will convert the ethanol into a more energy-dense fuel needed by aircraft, said Jimmy Samartzis, the company’s CEO.
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
LanzaJet’s fuel will still be burned in an engine, but the company says greenhouse gas emissions are 70% less than convention jet fuel.
In his grand opening remarks, Samartzis said the fuels provide an immediate tool for airlines to “bend the carbon curve today and to continue to advance toward net-zero and carbon negative fuels in the future.”
For now, the SAF produced at LanzaJet’s Freedom Pines Fuels Plant will be a tiny fraction of what’s needed to satisfy the global thirst for jet fuel.
The plant will be able to produce 10 million gallons of SAF and renewable diesel each year. Fuel consumption by U.S. airlines has ranged from 10 billion to 19 billion gallons between 2019 and 2021, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
But the federal government wants to produce much more SAF in the years to come. President Joe Biden’s administration has set a lofty goal of producing at least 3 billion gallons of SAFs by 2030 and for SAFs to meet 100 percent of U.S. aviation fuel demand by 2050.
U.S. Department of Energy Deputy Secretary David Turk, who spoke at the grand opening along with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, acknowledged there’s much more to be done.
“This is a first step — a big first step, but we need a lot more steps and bigger steps,” Turk said to reporters before the event. “But it’s exciting to have this momentum going forward.”
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
The federal government is also trying to help SAF’s compete on a cost-basis with traditional jet fuels. Biden’s signature climate and health care law — the Inflation Reduction Act — offers SAF producers a tax credit of $1.25 per gallon for fuel that has lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions at least 50% lower than petroleum-based jet fuels. Producers can earn an extra penny per gallon credit for each percentage point above the 50% threshold they can achieve, up to a maximum credit of $1.75 per gallon.
LanzaJet says it has 10-year sales agreements in place for all of the fuel it will produce. The facility will begin start-up operations soon and once fully operational, expects to employ 250 workers.
At the same time, other technologies for SAF production are in development, including one in Georgia that will turn wood chips into jet fuel. Will LanzaJet’s fuels be the “Holy Grail” the aviation industry needs to achieve a more climate-friendly future?
Samartzis, the company’s CEO, said, “Time will tell.”
A note of disclosure
This coverage is supported by a partnership with Green South Foundation and Journalism Funding Partners. You can learn more and support our climate reporting by donating at ajc.com/donate/climate/
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